Worlds Apart
by Orion'sProdigy
Summary: Constellations. Simply the product of ancient people too bored to do anything else but find badly imagined, connnect-the-dots pictures in the sky. That's all... Right?
1. Prologue

Title: Worlds Apart

A/N: This title may change. I am not 100% positive I like this one. Also, I am not sure if the rating will change. That simply depends on how far this story goes. I have had it on the back-burner of my mind for years now. Just please let me know what you think. P.S. Sorry the A/N is so long.

Prologue:

A raccoon wandered into a clearing in the woods just outside a city, sniffing the air curiously. He crept furtively forward, his bushy, ring-bound tail held just off the ground.

There was something strange going on today. Only an hour earlier, he had noticed a huge new dwelling of the furless-two-legged creatures situated a fairly short distance away from this clearing, which had most certainly not been there the day before. And then, just a few hundred breaths ago, he had noticed a strange, tingly, somehow _ancient_, sense to the air, emanating from this lonely place.

Moving carefully, wary of the odd new scent-taste-feel in the air, the gray-furred fellow snuck forward towards the very center of the clearing, where the… feeling was coming from.

Suddenly, the air became overbearingly metallic on his tongue and in his nostrils. A soft rushing sound suddenly filled the clearing, and from a point that was about five feet off the ground, there came a light.

The raccoon scrambled backwards, alarmed, no not alarmed, _terrified_, at the sudden activity in the clearing. He turned tail and started to run, but before he had passed the first tree trunk his natural sense of curiosity got the better of him, and he concealed himself in a bush at the base of a pine tree.

When he returned his gaze to the center of the opening, the apple-sized circle of light had grown exceptionally bigger, was still growing as a matter of fact. As it grew (it was now large enough to easily admit three of the furless two-legs, the nature of the light changed. To the now badly frightened, yet inquisitive individual, it seemed as if the circle wasn't exactly _light_; rather, he would have said it was a mixture of the light and darkness.

Now, what was perhaps the most astonishing of all, three figures had started to form in the center of the circle; three, two-legged figures, who seemed to be clasping paws.

The raccoon's eyes widened even further (if that was physically possible), and he stared, open-mouthed, as the figure in the middle stepped forward, emerging from the circle of the light-that-was-also-dark, leading the others into the open clearing.

The circle disappeared behind the two-legs the instant they had all set paw on the grassy floor of the clearing. The tallest one, the one who had stood in the middle and led the other two, took a deep breath, then bared his teeth at the short one on his right. He returned the gesture, but then the third one, who was about a head shorter than the tallest one, stiffened.

She (the masked creature thought it was female, though he hadn't been exposed to many two-legs before) had also taken a deep breath, but her head had almost immediately snapped around to look directly at him and the bush he was hidden in. The other two followed her gaze, their eyes pinning him in his place.

The little creature panicked, twisting around and tearing himself free of the bush so fast he left a few chunks of fur behind. He could feel the power that came from these being, rolling off of them in thick waves, and it scared him out of his mind. Pelting through the forest, at that particular point in time, he didn't take the time to understand what he had felt, but later, as he pondered his experience from within his safely concealed nest, he would wonder.

The power hadn't felt bad, exactly… Just different, alien, and so vast he could scarcely comprehend it. When he really focused on the memory of the sense, he thought it really had felt very natural, very… good; but somehow more ancient than even the immense oak tree that stood head and shoulders above the other trees.

Whatever it was, he decided as he curled his tail around his nose that night, it would make a heck of a story to tell at the full moon meeting next week.


	2. Chapter 1

Worlds Apart

A/N: Okay, first real chapter. That last was the prologue in case you didn't notice.

Important: To all those who dislike change,

I mean no disrespect to the original manga at all. It's just that I grew up with the names "Joey," "Tristan," "Tea," etc. Also, I have moved Domino to the East Coast of America. Sorry, but I know very little about Japanese culture and would simply make a fool of myself trying to pretend I do. Don't like, don't read.

Please R&R.

Additional Note-

This chapter has been edited, as I felt it needed some revamping. Many of the other chapters are in the process of being fixed. Just letting you know. Enjoy.

Chapter 1: 

_Normalcy. What a relative concept._

A jarring, annoyingly loud beeping sound met my ears, quite sudden and unwelcome. I groaned and pulled the covers over my head; I was still too deeply intoxicated by the blessed, dreamless sleep I had just been torn from to react to the sound of my alarm clock.

"Wake up. School won't wait for us," came my brother's voice from off to my left, by the door.

I groaned again, and then muttered, "I can't believe you have the nerve to make _me_ go to high school."

"Hey, get over it. I'm going, too. Shane's going to his school. It's the law here. You know that. Anyway, I know you're dying to try your new uniform on."

I could practically hear the smirk on his face. "If you think I'm wearing that, you're dumber than I thought," I retorted hotly, having woken myself up sufficiently to be angry.

"You got five minutes to be in the shower or I will let Shane come get you."

I heard the door close, and then rolled out of bed with a sigh. Shane, my younger brother, could be quite, eh, _persuasive_ in the morning. More than once, I had woken up to find an ice cube on my back or worse, to a bucket of freezing water.

I stumbled across my large bedroom to my closet, fumbled for the light switch, and surveyed my clothes for the day. I scowled at the pink blazer and blue bow in my hands, but that wasn't even the worst of it. The short, pleated blue skirt that all the girls at my new school were supposed to wear looked deceptively innocent.

I was _not_ a skirt person on the best of days, and _definitely_ not when they were this short. I glared at it for a few more seconds and then snorted, throwing the garment into the farthest depths of my too-big closet. I grabbed a pair of blue slacks, spun on my heel, and stalked defiantly out of the closet, heading to the large bathroom that was adjoined to my over-sized room.

The luxury of my newest lifestyle, I thought as I stood under a jet of steaming water, would take a bit of getting used to. I was now thoroughly awake, and I dressed, brushed my hair, and otherwise performed my morning rituals mechanically, using the time to think.

"_This should certainly be an interesting experience._" As a young child, before I had been reunited with my brothers, I had read a bit about this place, had watched more than a bit about it on my television every Saturday morning. In actuality, I had gone through a phase of obsession with the… characters of this world. If the truth be told, I was actually excited to be here, to meet all my favorite people, though I had learned a year and a half (and several dimensions) ago that just because I had seen or read about characters in their stories, that didn't mean that they would act according to their portrayed personalities. The basics were usually correct, but sometimes the details were a bit skewed by the recorder.

We were the line walkers, the riders of fences. Our purpose was to brave the perpetual razor's edge where the darkness met the light, and to ensure that the blade never chipped or bent. In a way, were counter weights, responsible for keeping the balance between the two.

Many times since I had learned who I really was (had it really been three years now?), I had pondered the idea, trying to make sense of it. Were we the good guys or the bad guys?

Eventually, I reached the conclusion that our ultimate allegiance lay with the light, because without our guidance, the worlds would have fallen into chaos long ago.

My resolve had been tested to the breaking only a year ago, when I had gotten a taste of what the proverbial "dark side" was like after betrayal had nearly torn me apart. But that was over now, and my soul was healing from the beating it had taken.

I left my bathroom, still wrapped up in my thoughts, and strode towards my door, pausing to look into a full length mirror on the wall near the door.

The ridiculous bow was perfectly knotted around my neck, the eye-watering blazer buttoned over the crisp white shirt. My impeccably pressed blue slacks (I absolutely refused to wear that confounded skirt, consequences be damned) were exactly the right length for my long legs.

I was tall, uncommonly so for a girl, having reached a height of six feet and still growing, and lean. I had the body of a professional runner, or perhaps a gymnast, my long muscles faintly visible under my sun-tanned skin. My hair was golden blonde, and my eyes a deep, dark brown. I had a rather plain face if you asked me, other than my slightly hooked nose and the thin, nearly invisible scar on the right side of my jaw (you could really only see it if you were looking for it). I didn't consider myself really good looking, but I knew I was far from the opposite end of the spectrum.

I looked… different somehow, than the last time I had bothered to examine my reflection. Young in appearance, probably due to that accursed uniform, but only if you didn't examine my face too closely; if you really looked, you could see the kind of maturity that most people didn't achieve in their entire lives, let alone at sixteen and a half. My eyes were, provided my emotional barriers were down (an infrequent event at best), the eyes of one who has seen too much in too short a time.

My eyes caught in the silver pendant hanging around my neck. It was shaped like a four-rayed star and gleamed in the light reflecting off the mirror. I clenched my fist around the metal, comforted by the thrum of hidden magic, before tucking it into my shirt.

The star was our family crest, if you will. My brothers each had one, although theirs were crafted of different metals. Regardless, we were never without them, even to sleep and shower.

I was slightly startled by the fact that I couldn't remember the last time I had looked in a mirror. I didn't really care about my appearance, so long as it suited whatever cause I had taken up at the time. I shook my head and sighed, turning once again to the door.

A few minutes later, I was downstairs, devouring a gigantic omelet packed with everything you could conceivably put in an omelet, courtesy of my brother.

"You know, you're not going to give a very good impression if you walk into your first day of school in the wrong uniform," Gia, my brother said amiably as he prepared a second mega-omelet.

"Hear that, bro? It's the sound of nobody giving a care. Besides, I'll be way too valuable to their statistics for them to try to expel me over something as trivial as a uniform," I countered, half-joking, half-serious.

He sighed. "You know, I think you are developing a bit of an ego, _again_. Being a genius doesn't make you king… eh, _queen_, of the world, you know." He furrowed his brow, looking concerned.

I couldn't blame him for his concern, I suppose, considering what had happened the last time I had had an ego trip (the result had included a large explosion), but it still irritated me into action.

"Why would I think that? It would take a bit more than mere genius to conquer this world. Not much more, but definitely something. Perhaps a couple giants or a dragon to emphasize my point…" I trailed off, my face completely serious, pretending to ponder thoughts of world domination.

His face paled slightly, a suspicious look forming. "Eh, hold on a second, let's not be too hasty…"

I felt a faint pressure against the barriers surrounding my consciousness, and a second later heard his voice within the confines of my skull.

_"I knew you were kidding."_ His presence retreated, and his face cleared as he started to laugh.

"Sure you did; that would explain the panic. You should have seen your face!" I said aloud, also starting to laugh.

Some explanation may be in order here. My brothers and I were… special, in a number of ways. My brothers could read the minds of others, if they chose, although I had trouble with the concept. For whatever reason, that was an ability that escaped me, although my mind was easily strong enough to handle the strain of the activity.

We also possessed a number of other magical abilities, though we preferred not to allow people to be aware of them. Our lineage made us stronger than normal people, and a lot more durable. Suffice it to say, we had more functions than a graphing calculator, and much more practical ones at that.

Just as I finished my omelet, Shane wandered into the room, sporting his own uniform. He was five years younger than me, and six years younger than Gia. He resembled our older brother very closely, even styling his long golden hair the same way (a ponytail that stuck straight out behind him and was somehow spiked at the end), although he had deep green eyes instead of Gia's amber ones. He was very tall for his age, about five and a half feet (it ran in the family), but his height paled in comparison to our older brother's.

Gia stood six feet, seven inches tall and had broad shoulders and a healthy musculature. His hair was the same as Shane's, and the two had inherited our father's dashing good looks. He had amber eyes, very similar to a lion's, that occasionally glowed if the light caught them right. His personality was far more outgoing than mine, a trait he shared with his younger brother. He also had a strong attachment to tradition, and rules (I shared the rules part, to a degree).

"Where's mine?" Shane asked in dismay as I stood and placed my plate and fork in the dishwasher.

"Sorry, kid. Fresh out," I answered, grinning.

"What?" he turned on the pleading, puppy-eyed look as he turned to Gia, who was just sitting down at the counter with his own plate.

Laughing at the boy's reaction, he pointed to a loaded plate to his right and said, "She's kidding, Gullible."

"Oh. I knew that." The boy sat down and attacked his food.

Ten minutes later, we were in Gia's new Escalade, on our way to "school." We lived outside the city, on a vast expanse of land that stretched to the coast. Most of the land was flat and forested, but there was a place along the coastline where the land swept upwards to form a cliff with about a twenty foot drop.

"We will go in and make sure you find the office and what not. I think I still have to sign some paperwork for you anyway, Shane," Gia said as we passed the city limits.

"Okay. You don't have to if you don't want to, though," the boy answered excitedly. "I can't wait to get there! I've never been to a normal school before!"

"We'll go anyway. I'm glad you're excited." My older brother's voice was amused, but from my shotgun-seat I could see a twinge of worry pass over his face. "Just remember what I told you: be careful at PE if you have it, try not to read people, don't-"

"Don't use magic, don't break anything, don't lose my temper, blah blah blah. I know bro." Shane laughed at his brother's paranoia.

"It's no laughing matter. And because of the image we have here, we can't afford to make a mistake." Gia's face was serious, and slightly strained.

"Don't let him bother you Shane. You'll do fine. If someone bothers you, just break his kneecaps," I said lightly.

Gia glared at me, but I wasn't in the mood for his gung-ho attitude.

"You're going to scare him. Give the kid a break; he's not a baby anymore. He knows."

He sighed and shook his head, but gave up.

"If someone asks for an autograph, can I give 'em one?" Shane asked eagerly.

Gia frowned, but said, "Yeah, I guess so. If the crowds get to be too much, let me know, okay?"

"Yes! This is going to be epic!" He was grinning from ear to ear.

"Oh boy; you accuse _me_ of having big head. How do you think the eleven year old will handle being a celebrity?" I teased.

"Humph."

Shane and I burst out laughing.

The SUV slowed and pulled to a stop as we reached Shane's school, which was just across the street from ours. We walked him inside, introduced ourselves to the principal, and got Shane through the whole "new kid" thing.

Gia made a special point of telling the principal that he didn't want Shane to be bothered in any way, shape, or form because of our new "status." I think he intimidated the poor guy, looming over him and staring into his eyes as he spoke.

"I want Shane to have a shot at a normal life. If I hear of _any_ incident that upsets him or disturbs his school work, I will hold _you_ personally responsible, am I clear?" His voice was flat, and his eyes bored into the principal's.

"I'll see to it," the guy answered, his voice slightly shaky.

We left the office quickly, me with a cheery wave to the principal and Gia with a stern glare. We hurried through the hallways, avoiding eye-contact with the kids and staff wandering the halls on their way to their classrooms. There were a few heads turned and a couple exclamations of recognition, but other than that, we made it out to the car alright.

"So whose idea was it, again, to be internationally recognized superstars?" I queried.

"Don't start. You know why we decided on this path. We have the resources we need this way," Gia said in a tone that brooked no argument.

"Well, at least we really are musical," I mused aloud. "I wouldn't have been able to cope if we had had to fake it."

"Yeah, well, you got to do what you got to do."

"Don't I know it?"

We had set up shop here as a "family band," with my brothers singing and me playing guitar. Shane could play the drums extremely well, when he wasn't singing. Gia usually played bass and sang. We had made quite a name for our band, which my brother had named "Starfield" (which I thought was a bit sappy), coming out with quite a few of our own songs, as well as covering numerous others.

This had been one of a number of plans we had considered, and, in my opinion, was the most likely to backfire, but Shane had given Gia his puppy eyes and we had become rock stars (not exactly _rock stars_, considering we did a lot of country stuff).

My thoughts were interrupted by my brother shutting of the engine. He had pulled into an empty parking space by the main entrance of Domino High School. Teenagers wandered into the school slowly, many emitting shouts or squeals of delight as they met up with their friends.

"Do we have to?" I murmured under my breath.

"Yep, come on," Gia answered me, although he didn't sound too thrilled himself.

We got out of the truck, and, bracing ourselves, stepped forward into the crowds.


	3. Chapter 2

Title: Worlds Apart

Chapter 2:

_In the first place, God made idiots. That was for practice. Then he made school boards._

_Mark Twain_

Striding forward, I led the way into the building, and then followed the signs to the main office.

The way I looked at it, Gia was easily the most recognizable of us, and I figured if I put him behind me, it would be easier to get through the crowd, because people would see me and not him. The theory obviously worked, as we managed to get through the door into the office before we could be stopped.

The secretary at the front desk had a slightly crazy look on her face, probably the product of the usual first day of school turmoil. She looked up from frantically searching through a box of files a moment later, noticing our presence.

"Oh, what can I do for you?" She said, obviously a bit flustered.

"My brother and I are new at this school, so we came here to get our schedules and whatnot," I answered as Gia stepped out from behind me.

"Oh! I know who you are!" she exclaimed "The Archers, yes I have everything for you right here, just take this through that door to your right, Mr. Beck, the guidance counselor, and Mr. Ryan, the principle, are waiting for you. Oh, and dear," she addressed me, looking me up and down, "I'm afraid that's not dress-code."

_"You know, I hate to say I told you so, but…"_ Gia broadcast to me mentally, shooting me a sly wink.

I gave him a dirty look as we turned away from the secretary, then grabbed the door handle and pulled it open.

A tall man with graying hair and spectacles sat behind the desk, and next to it, facing the door, sat another man, this one with brown hair. They both stood up as we entered and extended their hands toward us.

The man behind the desk introduced himself as the principal, Mr. Beck, shaking hands first with Gia, then with me. Mr. Ryan, the other guy, introduced himself as the guidance counselor.

Ryan gave us our schedules and offered to help us out if we needed anything, then Mr. Beck started into a "welcome to the school, here are the rules" speech.

"…And, Ms. Archer, girls are meant to wear blue skirts, not slacks. As this is your first day, I'll cut you some slack; however, I expect to see you properly attired tomorrow." Mr. Beck had finally reached the point I knew would come up.

I had been pondering how I would worm my way out of this ruling since I realized what the uniform that I was expected to wear would look like. I had several cards lined up to play, and there was no way I was losing _this_ debate.

"Well, sir, with all due respect, I feel that my current attire is certainly more professional than those skirts," I began, my tone as polite as possible.

"Well, we are all entitled to our opinions, Ms. Archer, but in this case mine is the one that matters, and I believe that there should be no exceptions to the dress-code."

"Sir, I would be extremely uncomfortable wearing one of those skirts, and I feel that maybe you should make an exception in this case." My tone was still polite, but I allowed an edge to creep into it.

"Young lady, I am afraid that the rules here will not be changed in favor of one student, no matter how influential you may be." His voice was firm, and there was a look in his eye that made it seem as though he were used to denying "exceptions."

"I think you are taking this the wrong way, sir," I said in a honeyed voice. "I mean no disrespect to you or your school, but I simply cannot wear that. I have this condition, you see."

"A condition?" Mr. Ryan interjected.

"What condition? There is no mention of one in your file," Mr. Beck added.

By my side, I felt my brother shift uncomfortably. _"Don't do anything I'll regret, please don't do anything I'll regret,"_ came his mental voice. He knew I was about to play my trump card, but he couldn't see what it was due to the fact that I had just shut him out.

"Why, yes sir, you see, I am allergic to the chauvinist pigs that design school uniforms like this, and if I wear them I become horribly agitated. My natural sense of diplomacy and fairness goes right down the drain, and tend to sue said pigs," I said, my voice icy and my demeanor that of one who has discovered something disgusting on the floor of a public bathroom.

The eyes of the principal narrowed, and Mr. Ryan suddenly looked very anxious. Gia groaned under his breath, quietly enough that only I could hear him.

_"You had to, didn't you?"_

"Are you threatening me young lady?"

"Merely stating a fact. I am certain I could prove my case in court, and I refuse to wear that skirt. And no, I will not change schools, because it would be ridiculous for my brother and I to go to separate schools."

Fifteen minutes later, Gia and I left the office, accompanied by Mr. Ryan, and there was a small, rather smug smile on my face. Mr. Ryan had actually sided with me, as had my brother (of course), and I had eventually won the argument, as I knew I would. There was a note of explanation in my hand for my teachers.

We walked through the halls in silence, seeing as how class had already started, stopping before the door to my brother's homeroom, as it was closer to the office.

Mr. Ryan asked me to wait outside, and then he went into the classroom with Gia. A moment or two later, he reemerged and motioned me to follow him. We walked a bit further, until; once again, we stopped outside a wooden door.

As he moved to open the door, I grabbed his arm, stopping him.

"Yes?" He looked mildly curious.

"Thank you for siding with me back there. I know you risked your job," I said, sincere and warm.

"Don't worry about it. I have been trying to get him to change that uniform since I started here years ago. It really is a bit inappropriate," he answered, then swung the door wide.

I took a breath, and stepped inside.


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

_The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education. _

_Albert Einstein_

"Mr. Lee, this is Gerilynn Archer. She will be in your class from now on." Mr. Ryan introduced me to the teacher quietly, ignoring the rest of the class and their stares.

I, on the other hand, was extremely uneasy under the scrutiny of the class, though I didn't show it. My face was perfectly blank and emotionless, but inside I was squirming with discomfort. This was bringing back memories that I didn't want to think about, especially right now; I was getting flashes of coldly suspicious stares and venomous whispers.

Meanwhile, Mr. Ryan had been talking to the teacher, explaining who I was and the conditions of my time here. The teacher, Mr. Lee, didn't look exactly happy when the counselor told him of my dress-code exception.

Although the men were speaking in low tones that should have been inaudible to me, I could hear every word as clear as though they were talking into my ear. It was one of the many skills I had been endowed with, and at times it was as much a curse as it was a blessing; I heard many things I wished I didn't.

I hadn't actually looked at the group of people to my left yet, which really was bothering me; it went against all my instincts. However, as Lee and Ryan turned to face me, I had the feeling I was going to be forced into the whole "stand at the front of the class and introduce yourself" routine.

Lee introduced himself with a rather aloof demeanor, and I could feel my heart starting to sink. He then looked to the class, cleared his throat, and said, "Class. This is our new student. I am sure she would like to introduce herself." He looked at me pointedly.

I sighed inwardly. This guy was going to get on my nerves. He practically _oozed _self-righteousness.

"Right, well, I'm Gerilynn," I uttered, then, ignoring a couple of gasps of recognition, did a right-face and addressed the teacher. "Where should I sit?"

"Why don't you take that seat in the back row, next to the window?" he suggested, his voice full of helpfulness that was totally fake.

I nodded curtly, and then strode to the desk he had indicated; a murmur ran through the crowd as I did so. There were only two other people sitting in the back row; one of them was snoring. The other sat in the middle of the row of desks, and I knew him instantly. He was tall, that much was obvious even though he was sitting, and lean. His hair was brown and his eyes deep sapphire blue, and about as cold and unyielding as the gem itself.

An image of another set of eyes, cold and emotionless like his, but of a different color, flashed through my mind, but I banished the thought instantly. I needed to focus on other things right now.

As Mr. Lee handed out the standard first day of school packets and whatnot (coincidentally forgetting to give an extra one to my section every time), I examined the rest of the class. I had seen several other familiarities around the room.

Three seats ahead of me, a boy with a head of spiky tri-colored hair and wide violet eyes had just glanced back at me, as Mr. Lee had apparently "forgotten" to give my row an extra syllabus (the teacher seemed to have taken my blatant rule breaking as a personal insult). That crazy hair could only belong to one person: Yugi Moto.

Directly to Yugi's right, a girl with short brunette hair and bright blue eyes kept looking at me every few seconds, apparently trying not to be rude by staring, but too "intrigued" to stop. Tea Gardner.

One seat behind her sat a kid with shaggy blonde hair and brown eyes, openly staring, named Joey Wheeler unless I was very much mistaken, and to his right sat a kid with pointy brown hair.

He had only looked back once, and I knew he had dark brown eyes that matched his hair, and that his name was Tristan Taylor.

A guy with white hair in the front right corner of the room I knew to be christened Ryou Bakura, and made a mental note to avoid him.

These people were the "characters" we would need to keep an eye on, though why it was necessary was beyond me; these _were_ the people who thought the answers to life were hidden in a _children's card game_, for heaven's sake. I mean really, there were times when I had been skeptical about our roles in different worlds before, but come on, now we were meant to be referees for a game?

"Ms. Archer, can you hear me?" The teacher's snide voice jerked me away from my musings.

"What was that, sir?" I asked, feigning politeness. I had no idea why, as usually I was a regular teacher's pet, but I felt like being rebellious at the moment.

"I said, we will be splitting into groups of six to work on a short paper and get to know each other better. Would you like me to show you?"

_"Jerk."_ "I think I can handle it." I scanned the room, looking for a group, and was waved to by several people. _It seems I am more recognizable than I thought._

Just then, I noticed what seemed to be a midget wearing a tricolored starfish on his head walking towards me.

"You can work with us if you want to," he offered shyly.

"Eh, sure. Thanks." _Why not? I _am_ supposed to watch over them._

I followed him forward to a rough circle of desks his friends had pulled together. I sat down at the empty one next to Joey, and Yugi took the seat on my left hand. I ignored the sense of surrealism (which I had come to be familiar with over the past couple years) at seeing characters from a story sitting all around me, in the flesh.

I received a hearty clap on the shoulder from Joey. "Hey, how's it going? I'm Joey Wheeler." His thick Brooklyn accent made the linguist inside me cringe.

"I'm well, thank you. Good to meet you, Joey." I said evenly, extending a hand.

He shook it, and then gestured broadly to the rest of the group. "Gerilynn, meet the gang. Right next to me is Tristan, that's Bakura, Tea, and Yugi."

I nodded to each, receiving a friendly wave or a "Hi!" in response.

"We should probably get started on this paper, guys," came Yugi's timid voice. I noticed he wore the upside down pyramid pendant know as the Millennium Puzzle around his neck.

There was a murmur of assent from around the group.

"Eh, what's it about? I wasn't really listening," Tristan replied, slightly sheepishly.

"We each have to do a couple sentences about our vacation, then write them into a short essay with an intro and a closing paragraph," Tea, slightly to my surprise, answered.

_ "Oh brother… Now I have to lie. I hate lying," _I thought to myself. It was rather ironic, considering most of my life was a lie.

"So, who wants to write it all?" Joey asked, eyeing Tristan with a mischievous look on his face.

"No way, man. Maybe _you_ should write it." Tristan obviously wasn't going to let Joey pin him with all the "work."

"Why don't we just pass one sheet of paper around? Then everyone can write their bit down, and no one gets stuck with all the work," I threw in dryly, pulling a sheet of notebook paper from my leather messenger bag.

The two stopped glaring at each other and looked at me, apparently confused. Before they could say anything, however, Tea cut in.

"I think that's a great idea, Gerilynn. Let's do that," she said quickly, eager to keep the other two from quarreling.

Yugi and Bakura nodded their agreement, so I skipped a few lines at the top of the paper and started scribbling something down.

I wrote that I had spent most of the summer touring with my brothers, which was partially true, and that I had spent the last couple weeks relaxing at my house. I then passed the paper to Yugi.

"Thanks."

Fifteen minutes later, the paper was done, and I was listening to them chat about their summer-time "adventures". They seemed to have spent much of the time together, playing card games and hanging out at the local arcade, that sort of thing.

Deciding that the current conversation only required half of my attention, I took the time to do one of my frequent scans of the room. My training (along with several previous experiences) made me paranoid enough to constantly be looking around, listening, _s__niffing_ for any sign of danger.

My hearing wasn't the only hyper-sensitive ability; all my other senses were proportionally heightened, to the point where I could literally tell who a person was by their scent, and see for more than a mile without losing clarity.

Usually, when I was in a crowd, I tended to ignore the better part of these senses; I had gotten good enough at it to the point where it was almost like they had an "on/off switch." So, when I wanted to be, I was constantly aware of nearly everything going on in my surroundings.

Anyway, my brain catalogued the information I took in, filing away who was in which group, expressions, scents, voice patterns, etc. for later reference.

I noted in particular that Kaiba was completely ignoring the group of students gathered around him, apparently absorbed in his leather-bound book.

The teenagers surrounding him, exclusively female, were watching his every move, like vultures waiting for an animal to die. I snorted. It seemed that the young billionaire had something of a fan club.

His behavior fit the recorders' portrayal to a tee, so far anyway. In truth, so did the other "main characters'." Yugi seemed to be the innocent, friendly boy of my studies, Tea the well-intentioned cheerleader. Joey fit the ne'er-do-well, humorous depiction and Tristan was obviously his wingman, also as described by the series. Bakura, or I suppose I should have said Ryou, was as quiet and shy as ever…or seemed to be for now anyway.

"It sounds like your summer was good, Gerilynn," Tea said cheerily, inviting me into their conversation.

I shifted slightly, a bit uncomfortable. "It was enjoyable enough, I suppose, though a lot more work than I would have liked." She had no idea.

"That's good. Eh, if you don't mind my asking, where did you move here from?" Tea continued, apparently unaware of my discomfort at her questions.

The others looked interested as well.

"I can't really tell you I come from anywhere in particular. We move around a lot," I said evasively.

"That sounds kinda neat. I would love to be able to travel like that," Joey commented.

"Must be kind of hard to make a lot of friends though," Tristan put in.

Tea and Yugi looked a bit embarrassed at his lack of tact.

"Kind of. I'm usually more of a loner anyway," I answered. "By the way, why is Mr. Lee such a jerk? Is he always like that, or is it just me?" I decided that I had had enough of that line of questioning, and thus diverted the conversation away from myself.

"I don't think so. Anyone I've ever talked to who has had him told me that he's usually a pretty cool teacher. Really strict, though," Yugi answered me, seeming to catch on to my game.

"That would explain things then," I said. "As you've probably noticed, I'm not technically 'in uniform.' I have the principal's consent to be so. I don't think Mr. Lee appreciates it."

"How did you manage to get Mr. Beck to let you wear slacks? People have been trying for years," Tea interjected, amazed.

I smiled, allowing a hint of steel to creep into the expression. "I'm very persuasive."

She, along with everyone else, looked a bit thrown off, as though my change in expression had startled them.

Before they could say anything, however, Mr. Lee called the class to order. A moment later, when the buzz of voices had died down, he said, "I will come around and collect your papers, and next class, you will present them as a group. For now, you can put the desks back to normal and talk quietly for the rest of the period."

Immediately the noise level escalated, and the scraping of desks filled the air. I shoved the desk I had been sitting at back into place and, after making sure that Joey and Tristan had the rest of them, walked back to my seat. I sighed as I sank into the uncomfortable plastic chair, thinking about next class.

_"Now I get to lie to the entire class."_

It frustrated me, the necessity for secret keeping. I had, in fact, only been in Domino for a day. My brothers and I had been busy with matters far less light-hearted than our musical career.

The bell rang, interrupting my thoughts, and I had just stood up to leave when I realized I had no idea where I was going. I took out the schedule sheet, checking the room number and searching the map on the other side.

I hadn't even realized that I had started moving; that is, until I slammed into something solid. I staggered, tipping sideways and almost falling.

Looking up, I found a pair of subzero blue eyes glaring back at me. It seemed that in my haste to get to the door, I had walked right into Seto Kaiba.

"Are you blind?" His deep voice was as icy as his eyes.

"No. Are you, because most people would have the good sense to move out of the way if they see someone walking toward them." The contemptuous tone in his voice made unwelcome memories flash behind my eyes, inflaming my temper.

His eyes narrowed and his mouth opened to speak, but before he could, a Brooklyn accent broke into the "conversation."

"Hey, rich-boy, you aren't picking on Gerilynn here, are you? 'Cause I'd have to kick your butt if you were," Joey said, apparently coming to my rescue. He stepped between us, his nose about a foot from Kaiba's.

"If I am, Wheeler, there's really not a thing _you_ can do about it. Why don't you just go back to Yugi like a good dog?" Kaiba's eyes were alight with malice, and I would have said he enjoyed baiting the other guy.

"Why I oughtta-"

Deciding that the situation didn't need to escalate, I grabbed Joey's arm, effortlessly dragging him away from the cool sapphire stare towards the rest of the gang near the door.

"He's not worth your time, Joey. Just ignore him. And, for the record, don't try to protect me, okay? I don't mean to sound rude, but I _can_ take care of myself."

By this time, we had reached Yugi and the others and I had released Joey's arm. I received several stares from the group, and Yugi said, "What was that all about?"

I cut Joey off swiftly, glancing at the clock. "Later. Right now, do any of you know where room 238 is?"

To my surprise, it was Ryou who answered me. "Yes, that's the engineering technology room. I have that class next as well. Shall we go?" He seemed to be about as anxious as I was to get to class on time.

"Er, yeah. Thanks." I followed the British kid out of the room, leaving Yugi and his gang looking slightly confused as to what had just happened.

Walking swiftly through the crowded hallways, Bakura and I managed to make it through the door of the classroom with time to spare. The room was set up similarly to a computer lab, with large, flat-screen computer monitors and towers set up at each desk.

I thanked my guide, then went to give the teacher my schedule (despite the fact that it was the first day of school anyway, my brother and I had enrolled late, and our names were not on the teachers' rosters yet) and notes. He didn't seem to be bothered in the least by what he read, only told me that "everything was in order" and "would I please find an empty seat" after adding my name to his roster.

By the time I was finished talking to him, the entire classroom seemed to have been filled with students (almost exclusively male, which made the flurry of sensations in the air all the more pungent and the noise level that much more boisterous). The proverbial tide had rolled in, and I was having some difficulty finding a seat.

"There's a seat over there, next to Kaiba," The teacher, Mr. Moor, directed gruffly. He didn't seem to be too concerned with being politically correct, or polite for that matter.

Ryou, noticing the teacher's words from his seat, gave me an apologetic look.

I cringed internally, but strode over to the desk and sat down. I had no desire to spend the one class that had a ghost of a chance at interesting me at all with the most potentially irritating being in the school breathing down my neck. Thankfully he ignored me, not even bothering to glare at me.

It wasn't that I was intimidated by him, I reflected to myself as the teacher started to go over a PowerPoint of the class rules and syllabus, it was just that I didn't want to deal with his attitude. I knew what he was like, or at least had a pretty good idea from the stories, and I knew what it was like to put up with people like him; I had little inclination to go down that path again.

"Are you deaf as well as blind?"

"What?" I blinked, glancing around; there were two engineering notebooks sitting on the desk to my right, just out of my "partner's" reach. I grabbed one and handed it to him. "Happy?"

"Not particularly," came his snide remark.

I snorted, and then after glancing around to see what everyone else was doing, I pulled a sharpie out of my bag and wrote my name on the front cover. _"Maybe I should pay a bit more attention…"_

I refocused quickly, taking a breath in through my nose. I followed the teacher's instructions to "familiarize" myself with the notebook, as though I had never seen one before.

In all honesty, I had several of these at the house on archive. My mentor, Daedalus, had taught me everything there was to know regarding engineering and inventing (as well as _nearly_ everything there was to know about any other topic you cared to name), seeing as how it was one of my passions. (Yes, I am referring to the ancient Greek inventor Daedalus, whom I met up with on one of my previous "adventures".)

Thus, although this class had little or no chance of teaching me anything, it would still be kind of neat to see how a "normal" teacher went about teaching it.

A few minutes later, just after Mr. Moor passed out an introductory activity to be done in our notebooks, we were told to pack up and watch the school news.

My "colleague" hadn't bothered to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance, earning a dirty glare from the teacher. He had spent the better part of the class on his laptop (completely ignoring the computer on the desk in front of him), absorbed in what I was fairly certain was his email inbox.

Deciding that the school news did not merit my attention any further, I, displaying what I like to call my "smart-kid stupidity," proceeded to read Kaiba's emails over his shoulder.

It wasn't much more than vaguely interesting, but it was something to do that didn't involve redundant, poorly edited newscasts, so I observed vaguely (and silently) until I saw something that drove my perfectionist nature to action; the young CEO had just misspelled the word "absorption."

I reached over and tapped his shoulder, before my common sense could stop me. "Hey, you know 'absorption' is spelled with a 'p,' not a 'b,' right?"

His head snapped around to face me, an arm going up as if to knock my hand away (or possibly to hit me, I'm not entirely sure which), and he glared.

"Excuse me?" he said, his voice cold enough to freeze the Everglades.

Once again, my brain processed what he said and formulated a response before I could think better of it. "You heard me. You misspelled 'absorption.'"

For a fraction second, a sort of indignant disbelief flashed across his face, then his expression returned to one of cold derision, sneering at me. "Most of the world agrees that it's rude to read over someone's shoulder."

I shrugged. "Hey, if you want to send a message with kindergartener spelling to a prospective business associate, well, that's your business, not mine. I just thought you might appreciate a heads up."

The bell rang, and I grabbed my notebook and my bag, clicked the "log out" button on my computer, and strode through the door, frustrating his obvious wish to make a snappy comeback for the second time in as many hours.

"You have terrible luck when it comes to partners, don't you?" Ryou commented as he caught up. He glanced at the schedule in my hand, then stepped in front of me to lead the way to an AP chemistry class.

I grimaced at his comment. _If only he knew…_ Thoughts, unsettling and unwelcome, of another "partner" crept forward, andI followed Bakura quickly, trying to outrun the demons that plagued me.

The rest of the day passed swiftly, and I found that, to my utter distaste, Mr. Lee was also my AP World History teacher. I received the same treatment as the morning, with the minor addition of a strange look to the teacher's visage that was somehow both smug and annoyed.

I also had the pleasure of sharing a schedule not only with Ryou Bakura, who was apparently infinitely more intelligent than he had been portrayed, but with Kaiba. I was the only one who would dare to sit anywhere near him.

Yugi and Tea shared my classes after engineering as well, and all of them, Joey and Tristan included, my last period Pre-Calculus class (I had no idea how the two knuckleheads were smart enough to take the class).

When, finally, the end-of-the-day announcements came crackling over the intercom and the teacher had given up trying to keep the class in order, I completely understood why students were so happy to leave high school. The bell rang, and I all but bolted to the door.

As I strode along the hallway intent on escape from this world of redundant rule-speeches, I was stopped by the sound of someone calling my name.

Glancing around and cringing slightly from the cacophony of sounds and scents in the suddenly overfilled hallway, I saw a certain tri-colored mess of hair wading toward me through the throng, followers firmly in place. They seemed to have made it their personal mission to become my "new friends."

"Hey, hold up a second," Yugi began as he drew level with me.

I looked down at him, vaguely curious, despite my over-eagerness to be gone. "Yes?"

"I was just thinking, if you want, we are all going over to Yugi's tonight for pizza. You can come if you want." Tea had answered enthusiastically before Yugi could, earning vigorous nods from Joey and Tristan and an embarrassed look from Yugi.

I raised an eyebrow, prepared to speak, but was beaten to the punch by a deep, derisive voice.

"Trying to recruit the crazy musician to your little gang, are you, Gardner? I must say, you've sunk to new depths." Kaiba.

I sighed, then, without bothering to answer Tea's invitation or to say goodbye, resumed walking out the door; I had seen too much pointless arguing to stomach in my short lifetime, and had no desire to absorb anymore.

My brother was leaning against the Escalade, surrounded by a knot of fervent admirers (many of which were female). He looked up from signing an autograph on a girl's binder as I walked out the front door.

My eyebrows shot up and an amused look spread over my face. I slipped through the crowd, opened the passenger side door and got in. When Gia followed suit, I grinned at him, reminiscent of the Cheshire Cat.

"Can I get your autograph, sir?"

"Shut up."

I was _never_ letting him live this one down.

A/N: A few quick notes:

I didn't really like writing this chapter, nor am I entirely pleased with the end result; nonetheless, it is here, so that's something.

Another thing. For those who may be confused, Gia is pronounced "guy-uh." I know the spelling is weird, but get over it. It's my story. Gerilynn is pronounced "gerry-lin."

And to DreamixAngel, who appears to be one of my few fans at this point in time, as well as to anyone else kind enough to read my story, I am sorry it has been a long wait for this chapter. School can be a real pain, especially with my current schedule.

Please R&R.

Addition-

I have done some editing on this chapter, so anyone who has read it before please let me know if you notice any improvements or otherwise.

Edited 2/4/12.


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4:

_As a child my family's menu consisted of two choices: take it or leave it. _

_Buddy Hackett_

"... And we didn't do much yet today, but math looks like it's gonna be easy and English is really boring, because they made us write an essay on the first day of school and they didn't even let us choose what to write about and the topic was really dumb and boring. I met lots of people though, and there's this one kid with messed up black hair whose famous too, or he says his brother is, and-"

"Shane!" Gia and I both exclaimed; he had been going on like that at top speed since he came within earshot of the car.

"What?"

"We're glad you had a good time, but-"

I cut into my brother's statement. "You're driving us crazy!"

Shane looked slightly crestfallen and Gia gave me a pointed glare, apparently oblivious to the fact that he was supposed to be driving.

"Er, I mean, just slow down a bit there pal," I said somewhat sheepishly.

Apparently, all was forgiven, as he, after looking at me oddly for a second, launched right back into his elaborately detailed account if his day.

I sighed slightly; _'There's no stopping him.'_

Gia chuckled at my side, and I knew that he was eavesdropping again.

_'Aren't you supposed to be driving?_'

He sent me a mental image of himself sticking his tongue out at me. _'I know something you don't know.' _

_ 'How many chin hairs you have?__'_ I thought at him skeptically.

_'Hey! You do__n't fight fair.__' _

_ 'Whatever. What is it you know?' _

_'What our new afterschool job is.'_

_'Huh?' _

"You guys aren't paying any attention to me at all, are you?"

"Sorry, little brother. We were discussing some stuff." Gia answered in an attempt to placate the boy.

"What were you discussing?" the boy asked eagerly, instantly diverted from his previous fervor.

"Nothing you need to worry about until after we get back to the house." Gia uttered with a sense if finality.

About twenty minutes later, Gia made the turn into our driveway, slowing to a stop a few hundred yards back from the road to wait for the gate to open.

There was a stone wall, three feet thick that ran the length of the property, with big iron gates where the driveway cut through. I had a feeling it was one of the reasons my brother had chosen this site.

We bailed out once the car finally reached the garage. My gaze swept around the cavernous chamber as I walked to the door, as much from my own exasperated awe as from the training that compelled to be hyper-aware at all times. I shook my head slightly. _'Oh Brother…'_

"I heard that."

"If you don't like what you hear, don't listen," I answered; Gia's lack of tact when it came to his "eavesdropping" was legendary (to those who were privy to the knowledge, anyway).

"Come on, you can't try to tell me that you don't like _your_ car," he bantered as he stepped ahead of me, beckoning Shane and myself to follow.

"Well…" I trailed off, having no relevant argument for that one.

He had gotten me a 2010 Chevrolet Camaro SS, wine with flat black stripes, black leather interior: the works. The car practically made me salivate just thinking about driving it.

"Uh-huh. That's what I thought you said." He radiated smugness; it wasn't often he could "win"' any kind of debate with me without resorting to giving me direct orders, or worse, threatening me with household chores.

We continued down a corridor that looked like it belonged in a castle, with stone walls, torches, and the occasional tapestry, until the décor morphed suddenly about halfway down it to become more modern stucco.

The house had been effectually custom-built to suit each of our individual tastes; Gia had a certain fondness for the décor of the Middle Ages, while I preferred the laid-back, "beach house" style (the product of having been raised on an island in Florida). Shane liked the whole western ranch house theme, which I myself thought was pretty cool. The result of our diverse preferences was a huge manor/mansion that incorporated all these designs and somehow managed to look acceptable.

Our journey ended in the kitchen, where Gia took a seat on one side of the counter and gestured us to sit opposite him.

"Now then, I have some recent developments to go over with you," he began in a business-like tone.

"Oh boy, here we go," Shane said, sensing one of our elder brother's infamous lectures.

"This is important, so don't interrupt," Gia snapped before continuing. "We are taking on a local security job until further notice as an after-school type of deal."

I rolled my eyes. "What, are we going to stand guard over somebody's trading card collection?"

Shane chuckled along with me. Gia, on the other hand, glared until we were both silent.

"Not quite, and I said don't interrupt. It seems that everybody's favorite teenage CEO is a bit paranoid after the recent events at Duelist Kingdom," he stated, looking directly at me with a mischievous spark in his eyes. "He's in the market for bodyguards for his younger brother and himself… or rather, he _was_."

"You have got to be kidding me," I groaned.

"Nope, in my defense, it was _your_ idea to find a way to keep closer tabs on the mains in this dimension, and you _did_ say that Kaiba has an important role here. So, now we can keep an eye on him," Gia stated matter-of-factly.

"Well, if you interpreted my advice that way, then why aren't we working at the Game Shop in order to 'keep an eye' on Yugi? After all, he is _the_ main," I argued. I hated it when Gia turned my own words against me; he knew that it was basically making me argue with myself, something he immensely enjoyed witnessing.

A smug look came over his face, and I braced myself for his trump card.

"Well, according to you, Kaiba has considerable influence here: he organizes a lot of the 'big event' card game tournaments, and he ends up following Yugi and his gang wherever their adventures take them. Thus," he paused, intending dramatic effect. "If we stick to him like glue, we should have no problem keeping up with the others."

I exhaled an angry sigh; I knew I wasn't going to win this battle.

"You know, I thought the point of establishing ourselves as international superstars was so that we wouldn't have to work," I muttered, more as a parting blow than for actual effect.

"Thanks for playing," Gia answered cheerfully before continuing. "Now that that's settled, we start tomorrow. We have a meeting with the boss-man himself directly after school, in his office. I figure that we may as well go with the usual professional attire, black suits, white shirts, you get the drift. Bring your clothes with you, and we'll change on the way there."

"I have a question." Shane spoke for the first time since the car.

"Go on."

"Well, I was just thinking, how did you get us, a seventeen year old guy, a sixteen year old girl, and an eleven year old boy, jobs as bodyguards _here._ I mean, isn't that a little unusual in this dimension?"

Gia and I both stared at him for a moment. I recovered first, and swiveled my gaze back to my older brother.

"Well? You heard the man- speak. How did you justify our ages?" I latched onto the idea, sensing a possible way out of the situation.

"I didn't."

I raised an eyebrow. "You don't mean to tell me that you didn't tell him that he hired three kids as human shields, do you?"

"No, I mean that I didn't say anything to defend our ages. I told him how old we were when we discussed the terms of the contract, and he just kind of looked at me funny for a second, then kept right on with the conversation like it didn't matter," he explained.

"You mean Kaiba was alright with the concept?" I was surprised, to say the least.

"I just said that. Our credentials must have really blown away the competition."

"Credentials?"

"Don't ask. I don't feel like telling you everything. Just get over it. This is what we are going to do, end of discussion," Gia said, voice ringing with authority. "On a more urgent note, what should we have for dinner?"

A/N:

Sorry this is kind of late. I was sick and didn't feel like doing anything for a good four days last week. This may also account for why this chapter is relatively short.

Enjoy, and please R&R.

Edited 2/4/12.


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5:

_Sometimes being a brother is even better than being a superhero. _

_Marc Brown_

I ran the way a predator runs, intent on the capture of my prey. My heart beat was fast but steady, my breathing measured. I was completely in control, disciplined through long, rigorous hours of training, but my movements gained urgency with every step I took; panic boiled beneath the surface of the uniformly blank outer-shell.

I was searching for my partner. I sprinted silently, leaping thirty feet from a wall, catching myself on a tree branch, swinging out into a clearing from which emanated the rank stench of blood and fear and desperation.

Here everything shifted to impressions and emotions: relief, confusion, shock, hurt, betrayal, pain, fury, fear, more pain, the agony of loss and such terrible helplessness, and terror therein. Images blurred beyond recognition. The impression of a figure standing behind me, a white-hot pain in my back, and the words, in that terribly familiar voice, that would haunt me forever…

I bolted upright in bed, panting and drenched in cold sweat. A place just below my shoulder blade burned like fire and I was shaking. Adrenaline surged through my veins, offering little relief from the dream… the nightmare.

Out of the corner of my eye, the alarm clock on my nightstand read 2:03 AM.

My trembling hands had formed hooked claws, palms skyward. I stared at them, clinging to their image in a desperate attempt to rid the memories from my mind.

A second later the door opened; familiar footsteps crossed the room to my bedside. The being stood there, a silent shadow waiting for me to acknowledge his presence. I didn't comply.

"Nightmare, huh?" came the soft voice after a moment.

I released a shuddering breath that I was unaware I had been holding. "Same old, same old," I muttered in a weak, bitter voice. The adrenaline was fading now; the tension and the memory remained.

A weight settled on the bed beside me. "I'm here, if you need me."

I shivered violently, muscles clenching and unclenching spasmodically as a wave of too-familiar pain rose up inside me. "I thought I was healing…" My voice was scarcely a whisper. I felt immensely old, weighed down by the past.

"Some things take more time than others."

Another shudder racked through me, and I suddenly shifted, moving to lean against my big brother's comfortingly warm side.

Gia wrapped an arm around me, pulling me into a strong embrace.

Gradually, the fear and the pain faded, losing ground before the sense of safety that emanated from the embrace. My heart slowed and my breathing calmed.

"It was the day of the exams again," I said quietly. "The day the Third died."

"I know. Your thought-projections were what woke me," he explained. "You know, you seem to be able to use the mind touch in your sleep better than when you're awake," Gia continued, his voice lighter than before.

"We always knew there was something weird about my brain," I joked halfheartedly, appreciative of his attempt to lighten my melancholy mood.

"True… Any chance of getting back to sleep?"

"Doubtful."

"Hmmm…" He bit his lip, apparently thinking. "You want some pie?"

A wan smile reached my face, and I chuckled softly; the terror of the dream was fading fast now. "Raspberry or chocolate?"

"Well, I suppose we could have some of both. After all, this is a rather dire situation," he commented, an answering smile firmly in place. He stood, paused a moment to ensure that I was following, then led the way downstairs to the waiting pie.

A genuine smile spread across my face as I pursued him: I had to have the best big brother ever.

A/N:

Super short chapter, but I felt it was necessary to character development.

By the way, if anyone spots any grammatical errors, please let me know so I can fix them; it's one of my pet peeves. R&R

Edited 2/4/12


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6:

_Ah, high school. And that's about all there is to say…_

"Do I really have to do this again?" I asked tiredly. As I had predicted, sleep had been impossible after my episode last night, and I was irritable.

"Why do you ask questions you already know the answer to?" Gia parried my question with one of his own.

"Same reason you refuse to answer them," I mumbled, before pushing the passenger door open and taking off into the school.

"So it's one of _those_ days…" he muttered from several paces behind me.

Ignoring that, I strode through the crowd of teenagers purposefully. Apparently, I was exuding somewhat of an intimidating aura, because a path instantly opened up in front of me. Then I realized I was being followed.

Glancing over my shoulder, I saw Kaiba walking a couple yards behind me, and I had to say, I couldn't blame the students for parting like the Red Sea on sight of him. He looked colder, somehow less tolerant than yesterday.

I was actually relieved to make it into the classroom, because it meant that I didn't have to feel the icy glare on my back that was making me uncomfortably edgy.

I swung into my desk and watched out of the corner of my eye as he settled in his. I noticed subtle differences in his bearing to yesterday: an extra tightness to his jaw, stiffness in his shoulders, and faint circles under his eyes; his body language suggested stress, probably anger induced, perhaps supplemented by a lack of sleep. In my opinion, these findings did not bode well for our meeting later in the day.

My diagnostics were interrupted by a certain starfish.

"Good morning Gerilynn," Yugi greeted me, Tea at his side.

"If you say so, Yugi," I said, keeping my voice neutral.

"Something wrong?" he asked, sounding concerned.

"Yeah, no offense, but you look kind of tired," Tea added.

_'Why do they have to be interested in my well-bei__ng? We only met _yesterday_.'_

I quickly formulated a deflector-answer. "I didn't get much sleep last night. Speaking of which, how was your pizza gathering?"

"It was great, but now that you mention it, you didn't answer us yesterday about coming. Why?" Tea queried. "Kaiba didn't scare you off did he?"

_'I suppose I should have seen that one coming.'_

I narrowed my eyes. "No, he didn't. I doubt he could if he wanted to."

"Why then?"

"I…" I was out of ideas. How could I explain my aversion to their group functions without alienating them?

Thankfully (or not so much, on reflection), Mr. Lee chose that moment to reign in the class. He took attendance, "accidentally" omitting my name in the process, and then announced that we were to split into our previously chosen groups to put the finishing touches on our essays and present them.

When Tea's previous question was again asked of me, I was ready.

"I had to run, because I had just remembered that my brothers and I were supposed to be at a conference about a job we're considering taking." It was even partially truthful.

"No offense, but why do you guys need a job? You are rich," Joey asked, displaying his lack of tact.

"You know, I asked my brother that question myself, and you would not believe the answer. I'm going to treat the thing more as an ill-deserved favor," I answered jokingly.

Yugi furrowed his eyebrows at that. "What kind of job is it?"

I considered for a moment, and then said, "It involves Kevlar. Let's leave it at that."

They looked slightly confused, but the teacher's dulcet tones interrupted the conversation, and lo and behold, whose group went first to present? Three guesses.

I didn't mind public speaking; I hated public _lying_, and this was a bit of both. However, we got through with an "A", despite Joey's bad grammar and the teacher's grudge.

When the bell rang, I once again joined Ryou on the trek to the engineering classroom. I wasn't sure how, as I was certain that we had left first, but Kaiba had managed to beat us to the room and thusly was already seated at our shared table.

"Good luck," Ryou muttered as we parted.

I rolled my eyes.

_I don't need luck… Which is probably a good thing considering my lack of it._

I sat, dropping my bag beside me after extracting my notebook and a pencil. Then I turned to the boy sitting next to me and said, "So you don't mind having a 'crazy musician' as a bodyguard, huh? You are an interesting individual, Seto Kaiba." My brother's unsatisfactory answers last night made me suspicious, and my irritability (derived from my sleepless night) made my tone contemptuous.

"You know, considering the fact that I am your soon-to-be boss, you might use a more respectful tone," he said coolly. His face bore a superior smirk that made my less civilized half want to punch something (preferably him).

"I might, if I thought it would earn me the same from you. Regardless, that isn't relevant to my current question: _Why _are you okay with this idea?" I returned.

"Why should I explain myself to you?" The smirk was still firmly fixed in its place.

I narrowed my eyes. "I have several relevant reasons, but the most important is that I want to know why you think I should allow my brothers to jeopardize their safety in pursuit of your own."

Something flickered in his eyes: some emotion or other in response to my statement that was gone too quickly for me to identify it; he turned away suddenly, looking to the teacher (who had just started his lecture).

I shifted my attention also, but I watched Kaiba out of the corner of my eye for any further lapse in his mask: my diligence was in vain. I approached the subject again once we had been instructed to complete a basic exercise on the Autodesk software on the computers.

"Well?"

He glared, coldly appraising, for a moment, apparently thinking. "We'll discuss the terms of the contract at my office after school as arranged. Not before."

"Yes, we will," I responded.

We returned our attentions to the computers in front of us, and the rest of the class passed in silence in the corner we occupied.

An hour or so later, I was collecting a tray of what the school labeled "lunch". The items consisted of a rubbery chicken patty on a soggy bun and some steamed "carrots" that were actually discolored at the edges from the prolonged exposure to God only knew what in the cafeteria steam-tables. Add a half frozen carton of fat-free milk and voila.

I was beckoned over to Yugi's table as soon as I left the line. I considered not going, due to the fact that my head was starting to pound and I wanted to think in peace, but after a couple seconds deliberation, decided that it would be better to get to know them, if I was to do my job right.

"Hey," Joey greeted me happily, his statement quickly followed by corresponding words of welcome from the others.

"Hello."

"So, how's your second day at Domino?" Tristan asked amiably.

I picked up my fork, absently toying with the carrots on my tray as I answered, "Good overall, I suppose."

"You suppose?" Tea prompted.

I fought conflicting feelings of exasperation and nostalgia; their apparently incessant need to care reminded me strongly of some people from the village.

"I told you this morning: I am slightly sleep deprived, and my chemistry teacher's voice gave me a headache."

"Oh. Okay then," she said, apparently mollified.

"By the way, if you're not busy this weekend we, were all going to the arcade; you could come if you wanted. We'll show you around Domino," Yugi offered. His expression was shyly hopeful.

"I don't know. It sounds like fun, but I have to find out what my brother's got planned for the weekend. For all I know, I could be working," I answered; it did kind of sound fun to act like a normal kid for once, and it would be useful to learn the layout of the city.

"You mean, you have to ask your _brother_ for permission to go somewhere?" Joey asked incredulously.

"What about your parents?" Tristan added, equally amazed.

I grimaced, staring straight forward. "My parents are dead. I live with my brothers and occasionally my older cousin. So I obviously can't ask them for permission to go out on Saturday night."

I was done with this conversation, and so, ignoring the looks of surprise, sympathy, and remorse on their faces I stood and slung my bag over my shoulder. I picked up my tray and said, "I'm going to see if I can find my brother. I'll see you later."

I tossed my uneaten lunch into the nearest trash can, having lost what appetite I had had. I knew it was a bit petty of me to leave as I had. I didn't particularly care.

I pushed open a door and found myself standing in an open-air courtyard. It was blessedly quiet out here, and I drank deeply of the fresh air; it soothed my headache despite that it was laced with pollutants from the city.

I then did my customary examination of my surroundings. There was a small group of students sitting at some picnic tables to my right, and directly in front of me was the north wing of the school. To my left grew a massive oak tree, with huge branches stretching in all directions, creating a bizarre head of hair for the mighty trunk. There was a ring of benches situated around the base of the tree, which had to be four yards wide.

_'Jackpot.'_

I strode over to the tree, intending to find a seat on the far side where I could hide in the peaceful quiet until the bell rang. Or at least, I _was_, until I realized that that particular seat was already taken.

I rounded the tree to find Seto Kaiba working furiously on his laptop, and I very nearly groaned. I could already tell that the guy was going to be a thorn in my side until we left here, and I had only known him a day and a half.

Seemingly he hadn't noticed my approach, which didn't surprise me much. I stood still for a moment, deliberating, until I decided that I didn't care and sat down a few feet away from him, digging a book out of my bag. As a bodyguard, I would need to get used to being around him anyway.

"What do you think you're doing here?"

I'll admit it- I jumped just a tiny bit. I had been completely silent when I arrived, and I hadn't noticed any movement in my peripherals that would have indicated him looking up. He still wasn't, in fact, apparently addressing his computer screen.

"Enjoying the pleasure of your company. What's it look like I'm doing, reading this book?" I snapped back.

"Go away. You're annoying me." His voice was flat and toneless, and he was still focused in the computer in front of him, fingers flying across the keys.

"I find that difficult to believe: I haven't made a sound since I got here. In any case, you're going to have to get used to my presence," I said. "Believe me: I don't like it anymore than you do; less so, probably."

"Hmph."

"Whatever." I returned my attention to my book and was uninterrupted until the bell.

I stood, stowing the paperback and stretching. My headache had abated, and improved my mood slightly with its absence. I glanced at my neighbor, who hadn't reacted in the slightest when the bell sounded.

"It's not really any of my concern whether you get to class on time, but just in case you didn't notice, lunch is over," I tossed over my shoulder as I walked back to the cafeteria. Then the door slammed behind me and I was moving swiftly through the crowds again.

I walked into the girls' locker room with plenty of time to spare. I had PE directly after lunch, and I found the class to be quite difficult.

Not for the usual reasons that girls hate PE, but because I had to be very careful to restrain myself while we "worked out." I wasn't sure what the coach would say if I were to run a three and a half minute mile without breaking a sweat or jump onto the rim of a basketball hoop when I dunked.

The class passed easily, as we were doing some ridiculous fitness test. Today's agenda included the so eloquently dubbed "curl-up test". I kept going until I was forced to stop, putting pretty much everyone else to shame.

Four people defied my expectations: two boys from the junior varsity football team managed a complete set of eighty. Tea, not completely to my surprise given her ambition to be a dancer, managed sixty-seven. The fourth was Kaiba, who did all eighty without breaking form once; I suspected that he just wanted to beat everyone else, thus maintaining his usual air of superiority.

I could feel Yugi and Tea watching me through the whole class, trying to catch my eye. I chose not to acknowledge them, and when they finally plucked up the courage to approach me, I retreated to stand within earshot of the coach. I caught Bakura watching me once, but as soon as he realized he'd been caught, he looked away and turned faintly red.

I hadn't had the chance to know my parents, as I had been taken from my family very shortly after my birth. I was left in a severely normal dimension as the child of a couple of very good (but completely lacking any "unnatural" power) couple to be raised in ignorance of my lineage and my abilities.

I had been found by my brothers around the age of thirteen and enlightened, but sadly it was several years too late for me to reconnect with my parents. As a result, I had become an orphan without losing those whom I had recognized as my parents. It all added up to an emotional thicket that I hated to be reminded of.

After donning my uniform once again, I left before Tea could catch me. I was the first one to history, and Mr. Lee made a great production out of ignoring the fact that I existed.

Once again, whenever we weren't taking notes or doing an activity, I felt three pairs of eyes watching me. The pattern continued until we were given free time at the end of Pre-Calc, the last class of the day, when I finally decided I was acting too much like a child to continue.

When the group inevitably sidled over to my desk in the corner, I acknowledged them with a guarded nod.

"Hey, uh, we just wanted to apo-," Tea began.

"We're sorry! We didn't know…" Joey interjected.

Tristan followed Joey's apology with one of his own. The others agreed with the two, looking apologetic and sympathetic.

I heaved a sigh. "I don't blame you, and I don't want your sympathy. You just caught me off guard. It won't happen again, that I promise you," I told them. My voice was calm, but carried a sense of finality: the topic was officially closed for discussion.

Joey seemed to be the only one who didn't catch my intention, and subsequently received an elbow to the side from Tristan as he attempted to speak. The two broke into a short wrestling match, and were distracted for a while.

Meanwhile, there was somewhat of an awkward silence amongst the rest of us. Yugi was the one to break it, to my surprise.

"So are we still on for this weekend, provided you get permission?" he asked tentatively.

My lips twitched in a faint smile. "Yeah, sure: I'll find out as soon as I can."

"Cool," Tea commented.

Then Joey rejoined the conversation, and it broke into an in depth discussion about Duel Monsters.

"Do you play?" Yugi asked me.

"Well… Yes, but I don't play competitively. I get really… serious about competitions," I said. Actually, I fancied myself to be quite accomplished at the game, despite the fact that opponents had been hard to come by over the past few years. I had been an avid collector as a young child, and had played with my "cousins" all the time.

"That's alright; you still play," he remarked. "Hey, why don't you bring your deck on Saturday? We could all play together."

"Uh… I don't know… We'll see. I'm not sure how well a match between us would go," I stated.

"C'mon, we'll even go easy on ya." Joey pleaded.

"I wasn't referring to how the game would go for me; I meant how it would go for _you_," I said, laughing.

"That sounds like a challenge to me," Tristan commented, he and the others laughing along with me.

"Are you really that good?" Ryou asked this time, speaking for only the third time.

"Nah, probably not. I've never faced an opponent like Yugi or Joey outside of computer games and whatnot. I have a feeling it's probably a lot different in reality."

"What kind of deck do you use?" Yugi queried excitedly.

"Due to a lacking of opponents and an overabundance of cards, I have several different decks that I use. My favorite though, doesn't have a particular type, but the cards work well together anyway. I have a dragon-deck though, a warrior one, and a water."

"Wow, you must have a heck of a collection." Joey said. "You think I could see it sometime?"

"Maybe. I don't like letting people see all my tricks."

Suddenly, I had the feeling I was being watched by someone else. My senses snapped back to attention, scanning the room carefully to locate my observer.

I looked to my left, directly into a pair of dark-blue eyes. It seemed that Kaiba had been watching and listening intently to our conversation.

I raised an eyebrow questioningly at him, as the others followed my gaze. "Something you'd like to share?" I offered.

He turned back to his book then, after throwing a sneer and a head shake in our direction. I caught something that sounded like, "Idiots," from his side of the room and grinned to myself as I turned away.

"What was that about?" Yugi wondered aloud.

"Probably just Rich Boy bein' a prick again, as usual," Joey said angrily.

"I think 'Rich Boy' was simply interested in our conversation, not that he'll admit it," I corrected. _'He reminds me of myself a bit… That's the scary part...'_

"Maybe…" he allowed reluctantly.

The announcements came on then, and they went back to their desks to gather their things. I packed up my notebook and calculator just in time for the bell to ring.

I wound up walking out with Yugi and his gang, before separating to join my brother at the truck. Once again, it was surrounded by people, though Gia wasn't signing autographs today.

"Shall we?" I said cheerily. My melancholy mood had finally faded.

"Someone's mood has improved," Gia observed.

"Swift today, aren't we? As much as I would love to prolong my good mood, let's get Shane and get this meeting over with," I bantered.

"Whatever you say, ma'am," he answered.

"By the way, what do you have planned for this weekend?" I remembered my promise suddenly.

"We're probably going to be working Friday night and Saturday, why?" he asked suspiciously.

"Calm down; Yugi and his friends invited me to hang out with them Saturday. I don't have any crazy plans hatched up yet," I explained, amused.

"Oh," he said, surprised. "I can probably cover for you, yeah. It should be good for you."

I rolled my eyes, but nodded in acknowledgement. He felt partly responsible for the incident a year ago, and for my subsequent retreat from human companionship.

Shane clambered into the car, talking at full speed. "So that kid that I was telling you about yesterday said his big brother _is_ Seto Kaiba, so I figured he's the one I'm going to be watching, so I hung around him, and he's really nice, but he says his brother can be harsh to other people sometimes, so I got some useful information too! The teachers, though, they are mostly either really annoying or really nice, and my math teacher is named Miss Halibut, which I thought was really funny because it's a fish, but…" He continued on, and on, and _on._

Gia and I exchanged looks.

_'He's _your_ little brother,"_ Gia projected at the same time I thought it.

We grinned and shook our heads, and then as one exclaimed, "_Shane!_"

A/N:

Kinda late, I know, but there you go. I'm actually putting off reading Benito Cereno right now, so that may be why I wrote nearly the entire chapter in one day.

Enjoy and _please_ R&R!

Edited 2/4/12


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7:

_Negotiation in the classic diplomatic sense assumes parties more anxious to agree than to disagree._

_Dean Acheson_

After changing into our "work clothes", we had headed for Kaiba Corporation's headquarters at the center of the city, arriving at 5:15, with fifteen minutes to spare. We walked into the lobby and were directed to take the elevator to the top floor, where Kaiba was apparently waiting for us in his office.

I had shifted to professional mode, and outwardly I was the embodiment of cool efficiency. Internally, my brothers had linked their minds to mine, and we were using our senses collectively to analyze the building as we moved through it.

To anyone lacking extensive training in the skill, the mass of information our combined senses gathered would have been not only sufficient to give them a migraine, but to be completely incomprehensible. The process was slightly chaotic as it was, but we knew each other well enough to make it work.

The elevator ride provided a short reprieve from the cataloguing, and a chance to collect ourselves.

_'Seems secure enough,'_ Gia thought.

_'Did you see the size of that security guy at the door? What does he need us for?'_ Shane's thought patterns gained the floor, the happy-go-lucky little kid music in his mind tempered by slower, older, _wilder_ chords.

_'Focus, Shane. I agree that the place _seems_ secure, but that's what they said about the Sky Village, too,' _I cut in, sobering them up instantly at the mention of our destroyed birth-place.

_'Gee, thanks for the inspiring pep-talk, sis,' _Shane muttered (as much as it was possible to mutter when you are speaking mind to mind).

Before I could respond, the elevator doors slid open with a pneumatic hiss and we were too busy observing to speak much.

We spoke to a security guard standing directly in front of a set of oaken double doors, who walked into the room for a moment before returning and allowing us to enter.

_'Now that is a serious secu__rity risk. We could have done any number of things while that guard was out of sight,'_ I thought. I received feelings of agreement from my brothers.

Kaiba's office looked much like the images I had seen in the anime when I was younger. His huge mahogany desk was situated in front of a window-wall, facing into the room. It bore a computer, telephone, and several other small utilitarian objects, along with a framed picture, the subject of which I was certain was Mokuba. There was a leather couch facing a flat-screen that was mounted on the wall, and a bookshelf against the wall to my left.

Kaiba was seated in a large leather office chair behind his desk, hands folded in front of his impassive face. He too had changed outfits, and now wore one of his trademark trench coat ensembles; in this case, the white one.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Kaiba," Gia greeted politely, extending his hand, the epitome of gentlemanliness.

Kaiba stood and shook hands with my brother across the desk.

Beneath my mask, I fought the urge to roll my eyes; but at a mental nudge from my older brother, I inclined my head at the CEO in greeting. He narrowed his eyes very slightly, but returned the nod.

Shane needed no urging, following Gia's lead. If the other boy was surprised, he gave no impression of it.

Pleasantries aside, Kaiba now slid a file folder of papers across the desk to Gia. "This contains the contract we drew up at our last meeting, with a few minor edits on my part. Feel free to look it over," he said smoothly, every bit the powerful businessman.

"I take it you won't mind if my sister looks this over, then?" Gia enjoined, picking up the folder.

The blue eyes bored into mine, as though daring me to find a problem with the document. "Not at all."

I took the folder from my brother and proceeded to read through the contents, carefully analyzing every statement.

A few moments later, I looked up and said, "Seems solid to me. I have a couple questions for you, though."

"Proceed."

"'No disclosure of information to outside sources without permission.' How binding do you intend that article to be? I would assume you mean the media and competitors in your field, but one can never be sure," I inquired.

"Yes, and yes; I don't want everything I do being leaked to the media, or to my competition. I would rather you didn't speak of what goes on here in general conversation, either," he qualified.

I nodded. "Fair enough."

"Your other question?" he prompted, his deep voice still as even as ever.

"I think you know my other question, Kaiba. I've asked it of you already." I met his penetrative gaze with one of my own, fiery brown clashing with icy blue.

_'You did what?'_ Gia's mental voice whispered in the back of my mind.

He held my stare for a minute or so before he spoke, seemingly having decided that I wasn't going to back down.

"If you must know, I'm hiring you because I want to make sure that my brother has as much protection as possible from people like Maximillion Pegasus that want to use him to get to me."

"So you want us to risk our lives for you because you see your younger brother as a weakness, and by hiring us you remove said weakness, is that what you're trying to say?" I pushed, my voice sharp, my eyes still locked with his.

_'Be careful!' _Gia cautioned in my head.

"That's not what I meant," he said, his even gaze becoming a glare.

"Then say what you mean."

"What I mean is that my brother shouldn't have to be put at risk by his relation to me, and thus I hire you three so that he doesn't feel threatened by people like Pegasus who seek to use him against me, or vice-versa" Kaiba elaborated, his eyes fierce, though his tone stayed low and controlled.

I let the fire in my eyes die down, softening my stare ever so slightly, and nodded. "Okay then; that is an answer I can live with."

He gave me a slightly odd look, but Gia intervened before he could answer.

"I'd like to discuss something else, if I may," he said.

"Go on." Kaiba's face returned to its impassive state nearly instantaneously.

"I generally make it a policy of mine to instruct anyone I am protecting in self-defense."

Internally, I groaned: I could see where this was headed.

"I'm capable of defending myself," Kaiba said, a tinge of irritation creeping into his voice.

I felt my lips curl in a faint smirk.

"If that were true, you wouldn't be hiring us." I felt Shane's amusement at my observation through our mind link, while Gia radiated a mixture of exasperation and anger.

Kaiba glared at me openly for the second time in as many minutes. "You are obviously missing the point of this agreement."

"I think _you _are. I'm assuming that this 'agreement' stems from your wish to protect your younger brother and yourself from harm. We won't always be around; what about when you are at home? Considering the fact that you obviously don't want us watching you every minute of every day, you need to be capable of repelling any enemy that may make a move on you or your brother." Sensing a weakness, I went on into a full-blown rant, and my brothers knew better than to interfere.

"And, to be blunt, if an assassin came bursting in here with a taste for your blood, I am 94% certain that there wouldn't be a damn thing you could do about it. I know if _I_ were to attack you right now, you would be unconscious in less than five seconds, and dead in less than eight. So, my brother's request really is not that unreasonable," I finished.

He stared at me for a moment, blinked, and then looked at Gia. "Is she always this unstable? It's not very professional."

I narrowed my eyes and opened my mouth to speak, but Gia stepped between me and Kaiba before I could start.

"She's in a bit of a mood at the moment. I assure you, her behavior is generally immaculate," he said soothingly. Mentally, he threw an angry jab at me, making me wince.

"Hmm… As long as it doesn't become a routine, I suppose I can ignore her antics this time…" Kaiba stated, serving to further infuriate me, which I was certain was his intention.

I had regained my composure by then, however, and refused to show it.

"About my previous proposal… My sister does make a point, however rude her methods are: I think it would be beneficial for you to allow us to teach you and Mokuba to defend yourselves to _my_ standards. There _will_ be times when we aren't around, and as much as I admire Roland's fervor, I don't think he and his people will continue to be enough," he elaborated; I had forgotten how well my brother could speak when he wanted to. "As I mentioned before, these lessons are a personal policy of ours: anytime we work with someone, we train them as well. We could work out after school a few nights a week until I feel you are qualified enough. I wouldn't charge anything; it's just something I do."

The other teen still looked unconvinced. "I'm a very busy man. I don't have time-" he began.

He was interrupted, however, by the door flying open suddenly. A short kid with a mess of shaggy black hair and large, bright gray eyes bounced into the office, shouting, "Help me, Seto!"

Three large, black-suited security guards came barging in after the boy, apparently intent on his capture. They all tried to simultaneously stop moving, snap to attention, and back out of the room as soon as they noticed whose office they had run into.

"Uh, Mr. Kaiba, Sir, we were just, uh…" Suit Number One spluttered.

"We, ah… were…" Number Two trailed off mid-sentence as he caught sight of the look on his boss's face, and Number Three didn't even try to speak.

Mokuba, for of course it was he, was standing behind his brother's chair, peering around the side of it with a rather amused, mischievous look on his face.

The chair's occupant didn't look at all amused at the interruption. The elder Kaiba was directing a look of absolutely hyperborean fury at the three goons.

"Fired. Do I need to elaborate?" his voice was cold and flat; it seemed he was exercising a great deal of self restraint at the moment: I would have sworn I could hear his teeth grinding.

"B-but Sir," attempted Number One, looking panic stricken.

"Don't speak. Just. Get. Out. _Now_."

They backed out hastily, and the door slammed behind them.

I almost laughed as Mokuba stuck his tongue out at the retreating men and hollered, "Yeah, you better run!"

Kaiba looked around at his younger brother suddenly. "What was that? You should know better than to interrupt me while I'm working," he admonished, frowning.  
>The kid seemed totally un-phased by his brother's mood. He looked up at his elder with eyes in full blown puppy-dog mode.<p>

"But, Seto, it was an emergency. Those guys wouldn't let me come see you when I got here from school."

The teen sighed, then said, "That was the point, Mokuba. I was in a _meeting_ when you got here. Still am as a matter of fact." He threw a pointed look over at my brothers and I.

I couldn't resist. "Oh don't mind us; we really are suckers for sibling-scenes."

Kaiba glared at me again, and I could sense Gia's exasperation growing again. Before either could speak, however, Mokuba spoke again.

"They're our new bodyguards, aren't they? I already met Shane; he said he'd show me how to knock someone out with my thumb!"

Kaiba looked slightly wary. "I'm not sure that's a good idea…"

"I am," the boy said serenely, seeming to have calmed down suddenly. "Have they agreed yet?"

"Well, I guess that settles that," I muttered as Kaiba threw a nod in our direction. _'I suppose that's his way of agreeing.' _

_ 'Hey, I'll take it. I thought I would have to restrain you a couple times there.' _Gia answered as he signed the contract.

Mokuba, after making certain that his brother also signed, beckoned Shane over to the couch where they flopped down and proceeded to strike up a conversation about one of their teacher's "elephant hair."

I shuddered at the image Shane sent me in explanation. _'Sometimes I wish you wouldn't share so much…'_

Gia watched the two for a moment blankly, his thoughts suddenly disappearing for a moment, until he finally shook his head in an amused fashion.

_'What?' _Shane thought.

_ 'Nothing,' _Gia answered.

Kaiba had apparently dismissed his brother's behavior already, for he was staring at my own brother impatiently. "Well?"

"I figure that three or four afternoons a week would be good to start with. Of course, the times are mostly your choice, as long as we are getting in about three hours per lesson…" So the conversation began.

They haggled for another forty-two minutes, neither willing to submit to a compromise (although Gia was much more polite about it), and I grew bored and tuned them out after the first fifteen, as I had already served my purpose in getting Kaiba to agree to the lessons at all.

After a tentative schedule was finally determined, one that came complete with only major inconveniences to ourselves and a few, excessively-dramatized, minor ones to our new employer, we left.

"You know, I do believe that if you punctured that guy's ego, you could obtain enough hot air to sail a balloon to Mars and back," I commented as we climbed back into the SUV.

"You may be onto something there, sister," agreed Gia.

"That'd be a neat trip, though," Shane added contemplatively.

A/N:

Wow… Not sure about this chapter… Let me know what you think. It is the product of several late nights and an overabundance of Coca-Cola and I feel as though it is off somehow.

Please enjoy, and _please_ review.

Edited 2/4/12


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter 8:

"_To every answer you can find a new question"_

I inhaled slow and deep, sharpening my focus as I stared down my little brother. In my hand, I held a Greek xiphos, a short, double edged sword with a leaf-shaped blade.

Shane was likewise armed, and his young face was smooth, betraying nothing of his thoughts or feelings. He gazed back at me, watching carefully.

I glanced around the clearing in which we stood, looking for something to use to my advantage, and for a fraction of a millisecond, my concentration wavered.

My sword whipped up, meeting Shane's in a shower of sparks as the boy rushed me with inhuman speed.

He snarled and spun away, before lunging at me again.

I deflected the strike, riposted, had my blade beaten aside, and was forced to dodge left to escape his fleche. I twisted around to face him, my blade whistling through the air to stab at his knee, only to be faced with empty space.

I froze suddenly as a cold, bronze blade was pressed against my neck.

"I win. Again."

I reached up and shoved his sword away. "Yeah, yeah: we all know I'm a lousy swordsman. No need to rub it in," I said, straightening up to tower over him. "You ain't got nothing on me at archery, though."

He stuck his tongue out at me. "So what? Archery is slow: it's useless in close quarters."

"That's the point, little one. _I_ don't have to fight at close quarters: my enemies are dead before they can reach me. And just because _you_ are a slow archer doesn't mean that _I_ am."

Gia walked over from his position to our right, wrapping an arm around each of our necks in a chokehold. "Enough: both types of attacks are useful in any situation; we've been through this before," he growled playfully, before releasing us and continuing. "Gerilynn, you keep letting things distract you. You can't let your guard down for even a nanosecond in a swordfight. Shane, you were lopsided. She dodged your fleche because all your weight was on your right side, and while it's important to put your weight behind a lunge, you must remain balanced at all times."

"Can we do something else for awhile? I'm terrible at swordplay," I answered, stabbing my sword into the ground and leaving it there.

Gia gave me a disapproving look and tugged the weapon free. "Don't do that; it's hard on the blades," he admonished.

I sighed but nodded. "So is that a yes?"

He turned to Shane. "What do you think? Should we call it quits for the night?"

The boy considered for a moment, and then said, "Yeah. I'm hungry."

Gia smiled, shaking his head. "You're always hungry."

"So? I'm a growing boy: I need my nourishment," Shane said.

"You heard the kid; let's go," I agreed, doing an about face and starting towards the house.

It was about 8:30 at night. As soon as we had gotten home, we had changed and removed ourselves to a well-hidden clearing in our expansive "backyard" to train. We had been at it for a couple hours, and while I wasn't tired, I was getting frustrated and bored with the swordplay Gia had opted to work on tonight.

We walked in comfortable silence, passing a large barn that served as our stables as we neared the back of the manor, skirting the Olympic sized swimming pool and through the screen door that led into a deep porch. I continued through the door into the main living room of the house, before hanging a right and slipping through an archway to get to the kitchen.

I immediately began rummaging through the refrigerator, searching for sustenance. I pulled out a plastic bag that contained the remains of the previous night's salad, as well as a large Tupperware full of leftover beef stew.

"I've got dinner. What are you guys having?" I called as I filled a large bowl with the contents of the Tupperware container and stuck it into the microwave.

"No fair! I wanted some of that," Shane exclaimed as he stepped into the room.

"You can share that with the rest of us, Gerilynn, or you can share the horses' dinner," Gia commanded, before walking over to the fridge himself and beginning to search it.

I frowned but decided it wasn't worth the fight, instead busying myself with the bag of vegetables.

He eventually reemerged with his arms loaded with leftovers, from steaks to fish to cobs of corn and some white turnips. All of the food was leftover from our previous meals in the house, and as it was Leftover Night on Tuesday, all of it would be consumed.

We had ridiculously large appetites; something I figured was due the vast number of calories we burned every day. The constant activity, plus the fact that there were times when meals were few and far between, made mealtimes in our little family events worthy of overdoing.

Gia addressed me while we waited for the food to heat. "You might want to drive to school tomorrow; I'm taking the first shift with Kaiba, and Shane's got Mokuba covered, so that leaves you with five hours to kill. That is, unless you _want_ to spend some extra time with me and Mr. Wonderful."

The prospect of getting to drive my new car excited me, and I nodded. "Believe it or not, I think I get enough of him without hanging around his office unnecessarily."

"I figured as much."

Shane entered the conversation. "Am I supposed to go with Mokuba when he leaves school, or what?"

"Yeah, just stick to the kid like glue: his history with crazies makes me nervous. And please be careful," Gia answered. "You can call either of us if you think something is going down, not that I expect anything to. Mokuba usually leaves around the time I will be getting off shift, so I'll take you home with me."

"Okay then," he responded before attacking the plate of food I placed in front of him.

After the food was gone and the dishes deposited in the dishwasher (possibly my favorite appliance ever), we sat around talking about trivial things in the manner that siblings often do, poking-fun at one another until _someone_ (Gia) glanced at the clock (which read 11:45) and decided it was time for bed.

Disproportionately tired, I fell asleep as soon as my head hit my pillow, and the next thing I was aware of was my alarm clock's harsh klaxon grating on my eardrums.

I hurried through my routine and made to leave the room. I paused in the doorway, turned and retrieved a small box from my nightstand, and continued downstairs.

Gia was already up and had a stack of pancakes waiting for me.

"Morning," he greeted genially. "Sleep better?"

"Yeah, a lot," I answered between bites.

He nodded in an absent sort of way, before dropping a set of keys on the counter next to my plate. "It's all yours."

I snagged the bits of metal before he could reconsider, pocketing them. "Thanks."

"Hn."

Shane wandered into the room a moment later, devouring his own plateful of pancakes. "These are good, bro."

"I would imagine so," Gia said with a smile at the kid's frenzied feeding.

Fifteen minutes later we left, and I was quite content in my Camaro. The engine fairly purred, and it handled like a dream.

I had an affinity for automobiles, and boats, and the occasional plane, and basically every other mechanical device in the worlds. I supposed it came from being an inventor and engineer myself.

I enjoyed the ride into school far more than I should have, simply because of the mode of transport.

I parked all the way at the back of the student lot, wary of the other young drivers and their battle-scarred vehicles. It left me with a longer walk, but I considering the alternative, I didn't really care.

Thus, when I stepped through the front door of the school, I was in a relatively good mood. I went straight to class, seeing as how my locker was empty at the moment anyway, and took my seat a full fifteen minutes early.

Mr. Lee looked a bit surprised to see me there, but thankfully he didn't comment. He did, however, pick up his coffee cup and a stack of papers and leave the room.

I took out my phone, which looked something like a very thin iPhone, but which I had actually put together myself, and proceeded to work on a new design for a project I was working on for Daedalus, my mentor.

About ten minutes later, the sound of shuffling feet and a cacophony of voices alerted me to the movement of students into the school. I looked up at the sound of the door opening, to find Kaiba entering the classroom, a faintly annoyed expression on his face, closely pursued by Joey, Tristan, and the rest of them.

_'Oh boy, here we go.'_

"Come back here, Kaiba! You can't just insult me an' walk away like dat!" Joey barked angrily at the taller teen's back, evading Tristan's attempts to restrain him.

Kaiba wheeled around suddenly, towering over Joey. "I can, and I will. Keep your nose out of my business next time, Mutt," he sneered.

"What were ya doin' wit' another student's permanent record, huh, Rich Boy? You got no business lookin' through that stuff!" Joey shot back.

"Joey's right, Kaiba: you can't just read through her information like that!" Tea added defensively.

My interest suddenly sharpened, because I now had an idea what this was about; why did I have to go and make friends with a bunch of overprotective idiots?

I stood and stepped over to them quietly. "Excuse me, but I think there is a bit of a misunderstanding going on here," I said, quickly moving to stand between the two parties.

"Yeah there is! Kaiba was reading through your file!" Joey exploded.

The others nodded in agreement.

I turned to my employer with a wry expression. "Wow. School records? You really are thorough. Still, it's a bit late to be doing research now, don't you think? I mean, you've already hired us," I said, much to the bewilderment of the group behind me.

He met my stare steadily, his cold eyes unfathomable. "One can never be too careful."

"Well, I wouldn't be very good at my job if I didn't agree with that sentiment," I quipped, before turning away from him again and addressing the others. "Kaiba has permission to go through my personal information; I work for him."

"Huh?" was the collective response.

I rolled my eyes, beckoning them to follow me back to my desk next to the window, away from the CEO.

"You seriously work for him?" Tristan asked incredulously.

I sighed. "Seriously; I told you I was getting a job, did I not?" I asked exasperatedly.

"Well, yeah, but you didn't tell us you were gonna work for that piece of-"

"What he means to say," Yugi hastily cut Joey off. "Is that it is kind of unexpected that you could manage to get a job at KaibaCorp."

"Right, we've never heard of a student actually getting hired there," Tea added.

I nodded. "Understandable, given the miniscule amount of information you have regarding the situation; however, you needn't concern yourselves: as Kaiba stated earlier, it is none of your business."

"Hold up a sec': don't ya think ya owe us some explanation?" Joey demanded.

"Well, honestly, no I don't. I don't want to offend any of you, but I really see no need for you to know about everything I do; we only met two days ago, for heaven's sake," I said firmly. "However, considering that I can see where you're coming from, I will tell you this: you don't need to worry about me- I am not an enemy of anyone in this room. Except, possibly that teacher."

Mr. Lee had just re-entered the room, bringing with him the warm scent of coffee, tempered by the bitterness of fresh ink. He gave us a sharp look, as though trying to determine if there was a way to punish me for something. Having decided there wasn't, and looking faintly disappointed, he resumed his seat in front of the room, messing with his computer.

I wrinkled my nose at the overpowering scent of the ink, as well as a mixture of deodorant and perfume that radiated off of the teenagers in front of me: my control had slipped. I swiftly refocused, though not quite fast enough to prevent my eyes from watering.

"Are you alright?" Tea asked suddenly, spotting the moisture in my eyes.

"Yeah," I gasped. "Fine; by the way, did you know your perfume has sandalwood in it?"

"Uh… No?" she answered, looking confused.

"Well, there is," I confirmed, my nose still burning a bit.

Before anyone could comment further, another group of students walked in conversing loudly, providing a momentary respite.

I took a slow breath, relieved to find that I had successfully dulled my sense of smell once again. Once the kids had settled down, I spoke to those assembled around me once more. "Can you please just let this drop for now? I refuse to discuss such things with so many prying ears near."

"Of course," Yugi said, seeming pleased that I had agreed to talk to them about the job.

More students poured in through the door, warning us that class was about to start. They dispersed to their seats as Mr. Lee swiveled around in his office chair, preparing to start the day's lesson.

The first bell rang, and I settled my attention on the teacher's morning lecture. The class passed with only a few minor mishaps, mostly due to Lee's perpetual "forgetfulness" of my existence; he nearly locked me in the classroom as we were leaving to check-out our textbooks.

Deciding that Ryou didn't constitute much of a threat interrogatively, I again walked with him to the engineering classroom.

I was slightly peeved to notice that Kaiba had once again beaten me to class, though I wasn't really sure why, which bothered me all the more.

I dropped my bag next to my chair before sinking into it and logging on to my computer. I felt a pair of eyes on the side of my face and turned to meet them. "What?"

"I can handle the Geek Squad on my own. I don't need your help," Kaiba growled.

I snorted. "If you think I intervened on your behalf, you're more deluded than I thought,"  
>I retorted.<p>

"Why else?" He seemed reluctantly curious.

I raised my eyebrows. "Well, number one, I didn't think that Lee would appreciate a brawl in his classroom, and he'd probably find a way to blame me for it. Number two," I continued, holding up a hand to forestall his comment. "I didn't want that file ending up in their hands; there are things in there I don't want them knowing."

"What's this? I thought friends weren't supposed to keep secrets," Kaiba said, his tone faintly mocking.

"They don't need to know anymore about my personal life than they know right now. I'm sure that's a sentiment you can identify with."

He narrowed his eyes slightly, but then promptly resumed ignoring me.

The teacher chose that moment to start the class with a massive assignment for the Autodesk software.

I breezed through all of the tasks in about forty-five minutes; they weren't remotely difficult, just tedious.

I was unsurprised that my "partner" finished early as well. As soon as he had submitted the work, he started up his laptop.

I shook my head. _'Does he really like working that much?'_

I spent the rest of class doing very little other than observing my surroundings, my mind going into a passively receptive mode that I found to be similar to meditation. The bell rang, and I hurried off to my next class with Ryou.

Chemistry went by quickly, although it caused a substantial rise in the amount of homework I had. Then I was off to lunch, for which I had come prepared.

After seeing exactly what grade of slop the school expected us to eat the previous two days, I had taken action to avoid consuming said slop, packing myself a lunch that morning before I left the house. I accepted the invitation extended by Yugi, seating myself next to him and pulling a brown-bag from my messenger bag.

It was then that I remembered my promise to explain my "occupation" to them. Internally, I groaned; why did I always set myself up for interrogation?

"Hey, Gerilynn; how's it going?" Tea greeted me amicably.

"Fine," I answered, carefully avoiding eye contact in the hopes that they had forgotten our conversation this morning.

"So, you wanna explain what you were talkin' about this mornin'?" Joey queried.

_'Of course.'_ "I guess a promise is a promise, but for the record, I still don't think this is any of your business," I answered, my voice suddenly weary.

"You're our friend… And so is Kaiba; he just doesn't like to admit it. Of course it's our business what you do," Yugi said slowly.

"Okay then… That's not creepy…" I muttered, letting a playful glint appear in my eyes.

He blushed slightly, looking away for a moment, before he chuckled quietly along with the others. "If you say so… We still want to know." He sounded slightly more confident, as though he had recently been on the receiving end of a pep-talk.

I filed the observation away for later; I had a pretty good idea what, or rather _who_ he had been looking at a moment ago. "What are you doing after school today?" I asked.

He blinked. "Not much other than homework. Why?"

I fought the urge to roll my eyes; I would have thought my intentions were clear. "Because I don't have to be to work until 5:00, and if you want to know more about it, I'll meet you somewhere and explain. I already told you I don't want to talk about it with all these extra ears around."

"Oh, right," Yugi answered somewhat sheepishly. "If you want, we could all meet at my place."

A murmur of agreement ran through the group around us.

I considered for a moment. "You walk home?"

"Yeah."

I nodded to myself. "Good. I'll drive you home and you can give me directions. I suppose the rest of you can join us if you want, though I warn you: if you so much as sneeze on my paint job, you're going to have much bigger problems than the pre-calc homework you didn't do."

Joey and Tristan winced slightly before looks of interest appeared on their features.

"What kind of car is it?" Tristan asked curiously.

"You'll see for yourself after school."

The conversation degenerated into the randomness that many teenagers' conversations are until the bell rang, at which we left and walked to class together.

P.E. was slow and rather boring. We were starting the next part of the fitness testing, which was a "push-up test". As before, the football players, Kaiba, and I were the only ones to manage full sets of sixty. Tea and Yugi both did twenty, the latter surprising me.

History went by quickly and without any major snags (although Mr. Lee seemed to have developed a habit of mispronouncing my name), and Pre-Calculus was a breeze.

As soon as the final bell rang, I was on my feet and headed to the door. I waited just outside the classroom for Yugi and company, who swiftly joined me. I led the way through the crowded hallways, stopping occasionally to allow them to keep pace with me.

We walked out the front doors and turned toward the student lot. I waved to my brother as I passed him, receiving a curious look and a mental nudge in response.

_'What are you up to?'_

I allowed him to view the memory of my earlier confrontations with Yugi and his friends, too distracted to bother explaining with words.

_'Oh… Good luck with that…' _he answered before retreating.

_'Gee, thanks,'_ I thought to myself sarcastically.

I unlocked the Camaro and gestured them to get in.

"Sweet car, Gerilynn," Joey said excitedly.

"Yeah, awesome," Tristan added, looking the car over.

He and Joey, along with Yugi, climbed into the backseat. Tea sat up front with me. Ryou had opted not to attend, saying apologetically, "I have loads of stuff to do today."

It was no skin off my back; I had taken a liking to Ryou, but I was still wary of the spirit that I knew resided within the boy.

It was about a five minute drive to the Game Shop from the school, largely due to after-school traffic. I parked the car in front of the store, to see Solomon Mutou in front of the shop, sweeping the sidewalk.

_'Why would anyone bother sweeping a _sidewalk_?' _I wondered to myself. I reached into my bag and grabbed the little box I had deposited there that morning, tucking it into my blazer, before exiting the car.

Mr. Mutou looked up from his broom work at the sound of the car doors. "Yugi," he greeted his grandson with a slightly uncertain look on his face. "Who's your new friend?"

"Hey Grandpa; this is Gerilynn Archer. She goes to our school now, and I invited her over to talk some homework and stuff over," Yugi said breezily. "It was her idea to give everyone a ride," he continued, scratching the back of his head in an embarrassed sort of way.

I stepped forward shook the old man's hand: his grip was surprisingly strong for his age. "It's pleasure to meet you Mr. Mutou."

"Why, the pleasure's all mine, my dear," he answered, before turning to Yugi and continuing, "Have fun."

The boy laughed. "Sure, Grandpa," Yugi said easily as he stepped forward and led us inside. He walked through the shop to a staircase at the back that led up into a small, but comfortable living area, settling himself at the table in the dining area.

Following his lead, the rest of us seated ourselves around the table. Yugi was directly across from me, flanked by Joey and Tea. Tristan was to my left, between Joey and I.

"I suppose I might as well get this over with," I said, breaking the awkward silence. "How about you ask me about what exactly you want to know? I think that will be the easiest way to clear this up."

Yugi spoke first. "What is it you're doing at KaibaCorp that requires Kaiba to have access to all your personal records? I mean, I know that big-time employers usually do background checks, but for the CEO to go through your personal files himself seems to me to be a bit odd for an intern or something."

"I suppose that would seem a bit strange, wouldn't it? Although I don't remember mentioning anything about an internship; interesting deduction," I mused aloud.

"So you _are_ an intern there?" Tea asked.

I frowned slightly. "No; forgive me: I occasionally think out loud," I began. "I am actually involved in security. To put it bluntly, I'm Seto Kaiba's new bodyguard."

They stared at me blankly for a moment, and then Joey started laughing.

"Aw, come on, there's no way Kaiba hired a teenager as a bodyguard," he guffawed.

The others still looked rather shocked. Joey's laughter died as he saw that no one else was joining in.

"Ya can't be serious? A high-school kid?" Joey continued, looking around at his friends for support.

"I have to tell you, I kind of agree with Joey on this one. It seems pretty farfetched that Kaiba would hire someone our age as a bodyguard," Tristan said, glancing between his buddy and me as he spoke.

Tea agreed, saying, "As much as I hate to say it, they're right."

Yugi just looked at me, his face blanking for a moment. "I think she's serious, guys," he said finally.

"I am- as uncommon as it seems, I hold a position as one of Kaiba's personal bodyguards; Gia took the other position," I said quietly, keeping my expression neutral.

Yugi nodded slowly, and Tea and Tristan seemed to accept that I was telling the truth. Joey, however, still looked skeptical.

"Ya don't look like a bodyguard," he stated doubtfully, sizing me up. "I always thought they were supposed ta be big an' intimidatin'."

"Is that so?" I said, my voice low and smooth and deadly. I stared the boy dead in the eye, letting the fire in my eyes rise to the surface. My eyes narrowed slightly, and I let a bit of my chakra rise within me, giving the impression that I radiated power.

Joey cringed away from my gaze within five seconds. Tea and Tristan fared no better. Yugi looked alarmed, but didn't flinch.

I let my features resume their usual, neutral expression; the tension in the room, however, didn't dissipate so easily.

"O-okay, so I was wrong: you are pretty scary," Joey said.

I laughed quietly, attempting to lighten the mood. "Like I said earlier, you four don't know much about me at all."

"I guess not," Tristan agreed, chuckling nervously along with me.

"I'm going to ask that none of you say a word about this to anyone else, though. I don't want this to be public knowledge, and I'm not really supposed to tell you or anyone else much of anything about what goes on at KaibaCorp," I requested vehemently.

"We understand," Tea said with a grave nod.

"Good." I leaned away from the table, stretching and yawning. "So… I kind of have time to kill. Do you mind if I hang out here for awhile? I don't want to impose of anything; if you have something planned, I'll leave."

"No, its fine: you can stay as long as you want. I'm not doing anything important," Yugi said invitingly, although I could read faint traces of wariness flickering behind his eyes.

I smiled. "Thanks; do you want to get started on the homework?"

Joey and Tristan looked glum at the mention of the "h-word" but grumbled agreement. Tea and Yugi nodded and all of them dug out their textbooks.

I left to retrieve mine from my car. We spent the next hour and a half doing homework together, until Tea bowed out to go to a dance class that was apparently being held at a local community center.

About half an hour later, Tristan and Joey left as well.

Yugi and I talked card games for a while, and then my phone started ringing and I stepped out to answer it.

I looked at the caller ID curiously; I could count the number of people who had my number on two hands. The number was unknown, and I frowned as I pressed "answer".

A gruff voice came across the line. "Is this Gary Parker?"

"No. How did you get this number?" I growled into the handheld. Anonymous calls from men with rough voices were things that in my world were to be treated as dangerous.

"My bad; wrong number," the man said, and I swore he sounded contemptuous. Then he hung up.

I stared at the phone, confused and suspicious, then I shook my head and pushed the event to the back of my mind, for later analysis, and walked back into the main room of the apartment.

I jumped when I noticed the second set of spiky hair in the room, for once genuinely surprised.

Yugi and his counter-part looked at me with confusion.

"Something wrong?" the former asked.

_'That must be the Pharaoh. They probably don't realize I can see him.'_ "I… Uh… Who's your friend?" I queried, feigning ignorance. I had decided that honesty was the best policy here.

Yugi looked flustered. "What are you talking about?"

I looked directly at Yami, who was looking directly back at me. "The guy standing right next to you; who is he?" I asked again. So maybe I wasn't going with _complete_ honesty (I of course already knew who the stranger was).

Two pairs of eyes widened suddenly, and Yugi looked at his friend with a faintly panic-stricken expression.

"W-wait; you can see the Pharaoh?" he blurted.

"_Yes_. I thought I just made that clear; and while we're on the subject, did you just call that guy _Pharaoh_?" I answered, making my voice sound confused and surprised. I felt a guilty pang in my gut at the lies.

Yami spoke for the first time, still staring at me. "Who are you?" His face was guarded and uncertain.

I reared back, stretching to my full height, making myself look more impressive. "I'm Gerilynn. Who are you?"

He looked no less wary; if anything, he looked more suspicious at my simple answer. "How is it that you can see me?" he asked in a commanding voice.

I cocked my head to one side. "I can't say."

He met my eyes, making full eye contact for the first time. His eyes bored into mine, searching.

I stared right back, unwavering, probing with my own gaze.

Yugi suddenly cleared his throat, causing both of us to snap around to look at him. "Pharaoh, I don't think we have to worry about her; I don't think she's an enemy," he stated calmly. "But I do think we need to sit down and have a serious talk."

Silence reigned for another moment, and then I nodded.

"I think Yugi is right, eh… Pharaoh: we both need an explanation," I agreed.

He studied me for another moment before he also nodded and looked expectantly at Yugi.

The short boy walked over to the couch situated in front of the TV, his partner following. He dropped onto one end of the couch and gestured to the other in an inviting way; Yami was still standing.

I settled on the couch, keeping my gaze carefully neutral. There was another tense, almost awkward pause, and then I said quietly, "What can I do to prove to you that you can trust me?"

Yugi started to speak, but then stopped and looked to the Pharaoh. Yami gave a small nod.

"Tell me how it is that you can see me," he said.

I sighed, then leaned back, resting my chin on the heel of my palm, elbow propped on my hip, face inscrutable. "I was afraid you would come back to something like that. I propose a trade: my story for yours," I began. "As a sign of good faith, I'll tell you what I think the most logical reason behind my… vision is."

The two exchanged glances before nodding as one.

"Alright then: here goes something… To me, there appear to be two lines of reasoning to explain this phenomenon. They both take their root from one thing: magic." I noticed their subtle reactions to my revelation; Yugi straightened slightly, and the Pharaoh's jaw tightened. "It may be that my eyes are simply used to picking up magical energies and auras and whatnot. Or the answer may lie in my identity, in who and what I am and where I come from. I think the latter is more likely, but it is probably a little of both."

"Your responses generate more questions than they answer," Yami commented wryly.

"True; however, I have an acceptable reason for speaking this way. I am not supposed to be telling you even as little I have. If my brother finds out before I have time to explain, he's liable to have a coronary… and then disown me," I explained apologetically.

Yugi's brow furrowed. "Why?"

I sighed, some part of my mind acknowledging that the action was becoming a habit. "I can't tell you that; at least not yet. Either way, I believe it's your turn to talk."

Once again, they looked at one another for a moment, before Yami started talking.

"Five thousand years ago…" And so it began.

I listened, fascinated, to their telling of the story I knew so well. It was interesting to me to hear directly from them, rather than from a secondary point of view. It allowed me to better understand them, and also enlightened me as to how little they really knew at that time just after Duelist Kingdom.

There was a moment of silence after the story was finished. I was the one to break it.

"That's quite a tale," I commented, uncrossing my legs and letting my arm drop onto my lap.

Yugi looked at me uncertainly. "You don't believe us?"

I raised my eyebrows slightly. "When did I say that? I was merely appreciating the fact that you two have had some interesting 'adventures', for want of a better term," I said.

He nodded slightly.

"I suppose now you want me to uphold my end of the bargain," I started. I received two expectant looks in response. "I will do my best to tell you what I can. There are certain… _restrictions_ on what I can and can't tell you; it may be better for you to ask me specific questions, as before."

"Where did you come from, then?" Yami asked, looking curious.

"Well, the most obvious answer to that would be my parents, but supposing that thst isn't what you were getting at, I…" I struggled with the words, determined to answer truthfully but fighting ancient oaths to do it. I swallowed, and then started again. "I come from everywhere," I finally managed lamely.

They looked understandably confused.

"Everywhere; how is that possible?" Yami asked.

"The same way your existence is possible," I attempted.

"Magic?"

I nodded. "I know that this isn't anywhere near an even trade of information, but I think it would be better to continue this conversation at another time. I need time to think how to explain without overstepping my bounds," I told them.

I, along with my brothers, had sworn oaths of silence a long time ago regarding our strengths, our mission, and our identities in general. It was with these bonds that I had been wrestling with, and I wanted and needed time to puzzle out the loopholes.

"I can understand that, I suppose. You will tell us though," Yami said slowly.

"Of that, you have my word. I _will_ tell you." I was adamant in this claim, but careful not to place a time limit on it; I didn't want to back myself into a corner.

Again, they nodded. And again, silence reigned for a time.

I glanced at my watch. I still had an hour before I needed to think about getting to work. I reached into a pocket, drawing out the box I had brought in with me earlier.

It was made of thinly cut black walnut, and the outside was intricately carved with the bas-relief image of one of the trees.

Yugi looked at it curiously. "What's that?"

"My deck; or one of them anyway. It's not my main, but I like it all the same. I wondered if you'd care for a game. I'm growing tired of heavy talk," I said carefully, my voice a bit stiff. I hadn't actually had time to play for an unfathomable stretch of time, and despite that I was quite sure he would beat me, I hoped to put up a decent fight. Thus my lack of practice made me rather uncertain.

He grinned suddenly. "Sounds like fun. I'm in."

"Good: I could use a challenge," I joked.

About an hour and ten minutes later, I had lost spectacularly no less than six times, thrice to Yugi, and an equal number to Yami. We were shuffling for another round, talking comfortably, when I happened to catch sight of my watch.

I started. "Uh, I have to go," I said, hastily packing up my cards and gathering my books.

"We didn't make you late, did we?" Yugi asked concernedly, handing me a pile of papers.

"No, it's my fault: I should have paid better attention. Either way, I'm not late yet," I responded. I snagged a piece of paper from the floor and picked up the textbooks, turning to the door.

He and the Pharaoh followed me downstairs to the front door.

"Good luck," they called as I settled into the driver's seat.

They couldn't see me roll my eyes as the car roared to life and I drove away.

_'Why does everyone think I need luck?'_

A/N:

I hate this chapter with a burning passion… Okay, so maybe not, but it sure is annoying.

I apologize most profusely for the lateness (and the obscene length) of this.

I had an encounter with writer's block and a 16 page Martin Luther King essay. Sue me.

Please enjoy and R&R. Or else.


	10. Chapter 9

Chapter 9:

Advice- a ludicrous idea fabricated in an attempt to help others; I have decided to stop bothering to give it.

I rolled into the employee lot outside Kaiba Corp.'s HQ with eight minutes to spare. After changing in the car (not one of my more inspired ideas), I had six to make it upstairs; I made it in five and a half.

I strolled through the office door calmly, my professional face firmly in place.

Gia was standing dutifully off to the right of Kaiba's desk, eyes sweeping the room before landing on me.

"Brother," I greeted him with a nod, my tone indifferent.

He nodded back, before looking to Kaiba for orders.

The blue-eyed teen gestured to the door. "Go ahead." He returned his attention to his computer screen.

After the door shut behind me, I waited a moment to see if he would say anything. When he declined commenting, I shrugged slightly and walked to the corner of the room to the right of his desk, situating myself so that I was leaning against the wall, looking toward him. I took a slow, quiet breath and closed my eyes, allowing my other senses to expand.

I was painting a moving picture in my mind more detailed than my eyes could ever hope to. I could hear everything with exquisite clarity, so much so that had anyone cared to ask, I could have told them that Kaiba was currently composing a reply to a prospective investor merely from the different sounds that the various keys he hit made. I could hear the guard outside the thick oaken doors grumbling under his breath about having to work such late hours, the sound of a coffee machine down the hall, and the elevator's soft hum as it descended with a three person payload. I could smell coffee and leather and wood and plastic and thousands of other apparently pointless things. Every scent was augmented by a corresponding taste. The air currents in the room tickled my skin. And I could see the room without my sight.

"I'm not paying you to stand there and sleep."

I shifted slightly, but didn't open my eyes. His voice was disconcertingly loud after the minute sounds I had been focusing on. "I'm not sleeping. I'm working."

I heard him shift his weight in the leather chair, swiveling to face me.

"You're watching me with your eyes closed?" His voice was emotionless and quiet.

"Yes," I said simply.

I detected the faint sound of his head shaking once, then the bearings in his chair rumbling as he turned back to his desk.

"Whatever."

And relative silence reigned once again.

About an hour later, I had grown tired of contemplating the multitude of sensations that I could sense from my post, and fell to pondering, something I usually forbade. It was more dangerous than it sounded, considering the most frequent topic I found my thoughts returning to was the past.

Inevitably, my mind wandered into the realm of memories. Or part of it did anyway; my ability to multitask mentally was one of the qualities that made me such an invaluable shinobi. My subconscious latched onto this train of thought, distorting it and mixing it with intermingling scents of couch-leather and coffee to dredge up a scene from the past.

I sat in a fire-lit room, part of a semicircle of people facing the fireplace from which the light emanated. Faces were thrown into shadowy relief by the wavering light of the fire.

Someone grunted and threw another log into the fire, causing a flurry of sparks to burst forth before fading away.

"That was some fight yesterday, eh?" a lanky boy to my left commented.

"You three certainly handled yourselves well," added a masked man to my left, his white hair appearing as a jagged silhouette from the dim light.

I shrugged and looked down, slightly embarrassed at the praise. "I'm just glad we managed to save the situation."

"She's under the impression that it was her fault that those rogues heard us climbing the wall," my brother said from beside me, a note of amused incredulity in his voice.

"Totally not true; I was rearguard: it was my responsibility to make sure there wasn't anyone around," put in a tall boy to my right.

I felt my face heat. "Thanks, Irishi, but it was me who dropped the kunai, not you."

"That doesn't make it your fault…"

I shook my head, still looking down. "Is your arm better?" I asked meekly.

Several people snickered.

"I told you it was only a scratch. No big deal," he answered casually.

"That guy almost cut your hand off…" I muttered.

Silence reigned for a while, and several people departed, leaving only the white haired man, the lanky boy who had spoken before and his sister beside him, Irishi, and us.

"Are we going to tell stories or not?" Shane asked from my other side.

Gia and I laughed.

"Yeah, kid, we're going to tell stories," he said fondly.

"Well, why are wasting time talking about boring stuff then?"

"Point taken; where shall we start?"

"Tell us the History, please," Shane requested.

"Again?"

"Please?"

Gia sighed. "Fine, then," he said, clearing his throat while the rest of us chuckled at his lack of resistance: we all knew he enjoyed telling the story.

"Long ago, near the beginning of time, there appeared a man named Orion. God brought him into existence for a purpose: he was to be a guardian of the many dimensions that existed and their inhabitants. For God had sensed a great darkness stirring, the likes of which sprang from a strange malice that had grown in some of his creations.

Orion, having been armed for his task, set about wandering the various realms, righting wrongs and upholding the peace. He grew stronger, skilled in all forms of gramarye and fighting. But Orion also understood the value of wisdom, and of knowledge, and the difference between the two. He was the greatest warrior and the greatest scholar who ever lived.

For ages he continued his work, as God had granted him immortality and his body remained untouched by the strains of time. Eventually, he met a beautiful elf woman with whom he fell madly in love. They married and for a long time they traveled and worked as peacekeepers, as was their wont.

Orion fought a great evil sorcerer soon after he met his wife, and a time of peace spread through all the worlds. He settled down in one of the places he had frequented over the ages, building a manor-house for him and his wife to live in. People gathered around him and slowly built a city on the site. And so the Village Hidden in the Stars was begun…

Shortly after the establishment of the city, Orion was gifted with a son. Melia, his wife, named the boy Orion II after his father. The boy brought much happiness to his father, and a year later his brother was born. This child's name… was Brekkin…

The memory cut off here, and my eyes snapped open.

"Where are you headed off to?" I asked, as Kaiba had stood and was on his way to the door.

"I'm going for a walk."

"Not without me you're not," I said, stepping lightly forward.

He looked at me with a strangely blank expression before shaking his head slightly and continuing through the door.

I figured that was the closest thing I was getting to an invitation, so I followed. We left the building, turning left down the road and following a seemingly random course through the streets. I had the impression that he was deep in thought.

Eventually, he turned into the entrance of a park, and as I walked through the gate I missed a step; something about this place was off.

I quickened my pace, catching up to Kaiba: I had been hanging back, giving him his space. Now however, I sensed it would be unwise.

I took a deep breath, sifting through the various scents of the night. I could detect loam, moss, tree bark, leaves, grass, water, the cement of the sidewalks, and… sweat… steel…blood? I strained my ears, catching a faint scuffling sound and infrequent, soft thuds…fight sounds?

I was now walking next to the other teen; if he cared, he didn't say anything. I spun and stopped in front of him. "We shouldn't be here." My voice was low and urgent.

He looked at me for a moment. "Why?"

"Because something is going on in this park that we have no business getting mixed up in. If I had to take a guess, I'd say we're about to wander onto someone's cat fight, to put it abstractly," I explained calmly. Angry voices had been added to the sound-waves I was picking up, solidifying my resolve to leave ASAP.

"How do you know?" Kaiba questioned skeptically. He wasn't moving forward, but neither did he show any signs of departing.

"Is it not enough that I just know? Call it intuition, call it being overtly observant, call it ESP if you want; all that matters is that we get out of here before someone takes notice of our presence," I said, allowing a touch of urgency to leak into my voice.

He studied me speculatively for a second before saying, "It seems odd to me that you seem to think you are the one who should be giving the orders here. And either way, you seem to have no hard evidence to back up your claim: for all I know you're crazy." He made a move to step around me.

I moved to block his path. "I haven't ordered you around at all; believe me, you would know if I had. All I'm doing right now is trying to live up to my position. I mean, if you go and get yourself mugged on my first watch, what will people think of me professionally, eh?" I countered smoothly.

He looked disgruntled at that. "I-"

And then I whipped around, using one had to shove him back and lifting the other in front of me defensively.

A group of four young men stood in front of us. They bore tattoos and a random assortment of scars. The foremost one was spinning a nasty looking Bowie knife in the air and then catching it.

"What do we have here?" he sneered, snatching his blade deftly out of the air.

"Nothing much; we were actually just leaving, so if you gentlemen will excuse us, we'll be on our way," I answered casually, shifting so that I was directly in front of my charge. I also slid my left foot back and put as much pressure on the toe of my companions foot as I dared, hoping to keep him quiet. It worked, for the moment.

"Really? Well, it just so happens that there's a fee to get in and out of this place. You see, this is our turf, and we don't like it when other people come barging in uninvited." The knife-man's voice was about as oily as his dirty brown hair appeared to be.

"Is that so? We were unaware," I said. "I'm sure we could-"

"It just so happens that I own this place, gentlemen, and if this is anyone's turf, it's mine," Kaiba interrupted coldly. He had jerked his foot free from mine and stepped to one side, making his glare visible.

'Stubborn fool…'

The group bristled like a porcupine, and an unsettlingly crafty look came over their leader's face.

"Interesting… Boys, I think we've got ourselves an opportunity here. It'd be a pity to waste the chance to make a profit off our guests, wouldn't it?"

The other three understood exactly what he was talking about.

Unfortunately for them, so did I.

They started to spread out, ranging out as though to surround us; they never got the chance to complete their maneuver.

My first move was fueled by the most basic of bodyguard mantras- 'keep the principal out of the danger zone'. And so I slammed my palm into Kaiba's sternum hard enough to propel him backwards several feet, giving me some room to work.

The action had forced me to turn my back on my opponents, but that didn't hinder me much. I twisted around with plenty of time to stop the first attacker, leaning as I twisted and grabbing his wrist as it flashed in front of my nose. Under other circumstances, I would have used his momentum to throw him, but seeing as how Kaiba would be in the line of fire, I punched the thug in the armpit with my free hand. He instantly went limp, and I flung his body at two of his friends, who were closing fast.

The one on the left stumbled, but the other one kept coming, drawing back an arm to punch. I dispatched him with no more trouble than the last one, tilting my body to one side to dodge the blow that had been aimed at my nose and letting him slam himself into my knee, which I had raised. I brought my forearm down across the back of his neck to make sure he was out, and then looked up for my next opponent.

As fast as I was, the man was way too close by now for me to stop his attack, a rather wild haymaker that slammed into my side. I staggered, but gritted my teeth and used the motion to facilitate a rolling fall to the ground. Moving like lightning, I kicked the outside of his right knee to bring him crashing down with one foot and then my other foot struck the side of his head.

I rolled back to my feet, ready to confront the knife man. He was standing there looking rather shell-shocked.

"How did you-" he began, and then I sprang forward and my fist met his throat, and he was silent.

I straightened out of the coiled, crouching position I had ended in, dusting my hands calmly. I turned around to see Kaiba getting to his feet about five yards away, dusting off his coat and looking irritated, as usual.

"Don't think this means you're getting a bonus or something," he grumbled, although he sounded grudgingly impressed.

I shook my head and returned to my post at his side. "Wouldn't dream of it; only next time, maybe we should listen to the bodyguard, hmm?"

"Shut up."

I looked away and grinned into the night. "You're welcome."

A/N:

Hey ya'll. I am more pleased with this chapter than I am with a few of its predecessors. However, I am undecided as to whether it seems choppy or not. Please let me know.

Thank you to my usual reviewer, DreamixAngel, and a special thank you to my newest reviewer, K5Rakitan. You guys help keep me motivated and I really appreciate the feedback.

Please enjoy, and please R&R.


	11. Chapter 10

Chapter 10:

_I have never been hurt by what I have not said._

_Calvin Coolidge_

_Oh, the irony._

The walk back to the office building felt disconcertingly long. The event at the park seemed to have roused Kaiba from his thoughts, and the return of his irritable, forceful presence added to time's notorious sense of elasticity.

Shortly after leaving, a searing pain woke in my side, making me miss a step. My jaw tightened and my nostrils flared, my eyes closing for a second before I mastered myself and released the tension.

I lifted my right hand and laid it on my ribs lightly as I walked, feeling for anything noticeably broken or wet. My fingers encountered a small spot that felt hot even through my clothes, and that had already swollen.

I closed my eyes for a few seconds, settling my heart-rate and breathing, which had sped up as I touched the place. Upon reopening them, my peripherals caught a flash of movement to my right.

"What?" I asked, turning to look at Kaiba and dropping my hand back to my side.

His face was unfathomable when he returned his gaze to my face. "Are you alright?"

I raised my eyebrows, surprised at his question. "Yes. Why do you ask?" I rejoined nonchalantly, keeping my stride smooth and regular despite the burning in my ribs.

"You looked like you were in pain and you were holding your side. I'm not blind, Archer," he said flatly.

I shook my head irritably, like a horse plagued by flies; I immediately regretted the motion, wincing before I could stop myself. "I got punched in the ribs, which really shouldn't be that big a deal by anyone's standards. However, I think the guy was wearing brass knuckles, as incredible as it seems… I didn't even know they were still popular in street gangs…" I shrugged, the movement evoking another sharp pain. "Don't bother yourself about it; it's nothing more than an embarrassing inconvenience. A bruise won't stop me from doing my job." I looked away, scanning the night for threats.

He was silent after that, though I could sense him watching me.

I let my mind clear and empty, allowing the silence to sink into my consciousness.

And so the rest of my shift passed, without a single word being passed between us. He finally quit at 1:00, and I was unwillingly relieved to hobble out to my car and sit down for the first time in eight hours.

I merely relaxed on the soft leather for a moment, letting some of the tension drain from my body. Then I returned my attention to my side.

Carefully, I unbuttoned my shirt, pulling it to one side and lifting my undershirt to bare the skin to my sight. I groaned at the image presented.

A patch of skin twice as wide as my palm was mottled red and bluish-black. I could see four circles that were darker and more colorful than the rest lined up in a neat row, marking where the metal had struck my flesh. Adding to the effect of the fresh injury was the yellow and green tinge that the skin around the bruise was colored.

Although I had not outright lied to Kaiba, the fact that the muscle had been wearing brass knuckles was not really why I was in such bad shape. The reason that the blow had had such an effect on me was because I had broken three of the ribs in my left side only two weeks prior, during a skirmish involving some nasty monsters we had encountered in the Greek world. They were mostly healed, thanks to my fast healing-rate and my brothers' magic, and most of the pain had disappeared.

Now, however, I was nearly certain that the bones had cracked once again. I knew they weren't broken in the sense that they were in pieces, but they were definitely far worse off than they had been.

I ran a hand lightly over the wound and gritted my teeth at the sharp sting.

_Crap… Gia's going to be upset…_

I sat still for a moment to rest, then pulled my tank top back down and buttoned my shirt. I dug the keys out of my pocket, starting the car and heading for home.

I snuck into the house as quietly as I could, trying not to wake my brothers. Of course, that was easier said than done when everyone you live with has hearing keener than an elephant.

Gia met me in the hallway outside my bedroom. "How'd it go," he asked softly, making me guess that Shane was still asleep.

"Fine," I mumbled, turning the door handle and stepping inside, refusing to meet his eyes.

He followed me, saying sharply, "What happened? Why are you limping?"

I walked to my bed and sank down on it before I answered. "See for yourself," I said, pulling the memories to the front of my mind.

He frowned as he sat next to me, his mind touching mine as he engrossed himself in my thoughts. He grunted. "Why must trouble always find you?"

I laughed softly, though it made my side throb angrily and my eyes water. "Are you kidding? I _am_ trouble."

My brother furrowed his eyebrows, looking concerned. He reached over and placed his hand on my side gently, before his eyes closed and a look of deep concentration came over his face.

I flinched at the contact, but then caught myself and held as still as I could. A soft glow of golden light grew from his palm, light that sank into my flesh and bone. I sighed as the energy soothed my body, washing away the pain in my ribs for a moment, and then I hissed; my bones suddenly felt as though someone had taken a blowtorch to them as the cracks sealed themselves.

Gia removed his hand as the glow faded, swaying slightly. He took a long steadying breath. "Better?" he asked.

I twisted my body cautiously from left to right. "I think they're still bruised, but the cracks definitely mended." I rolled my shoulders and looked at him sideways for a moment. "Thanks, Gia."

He smiled tiredly. "You're welcome, Gerilynn."

He left, and I remained where I was for a time, my mind wandering.

Kaiba's comments on the walk back kept returning to me for some reason. Whatever his motive, he had expressed concern for me, a near total stranger. I hadn't for a second believed he had asked out of fear for his own safety, though I had indirectly told him otherwise.

_Why should he care?__ It doesn't seem very in-character…__ More importantly, why should _I_ care about why _he_ cared?_

"Okay, now I'm being ridiculous. Why am I sitting here thinking about something so pointless when I could be sleeping?" I said aloud.

_'Good point; now would you quit talking to yourself? Some of us are trying to sleep!'_ Shane's mental voice reverberated in my mind, his indignation at being woken up evident.

I shook my head. _'Sorry to wake you, little brother. I didn't know I was doing it.' _I thought.

He withdrew with the mental equivalent of a growl.

I laughed quietly at his grumpiness, and then laid down on my bed and promptly fell asleep, not even bothering to change my clothes.

A/N:

Another chapter and another deadline left in the dust… I really intended to have this up the Sunday after the last chapter, but relatives got in the way.

I think this came out pretty well, although I am not sure if I should have added more to it or not. Please let me know what you think.

Also, depending on how crazy my winter break is, I may be rewriting/revising some of the previous chapters. Odds are it won't get done, but who knows? It is a season of miracles after all. Heh, heh, heh…

Thanks to my reviewers and in the very unlikely event that I don't update before then, Merry Christmas! (Sorry if you don't celebrate, but I do… So get over it.) Please R&R.


	12. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11:**

_I'm not one to dwell on rehearsal or preparation._

_Patrice Leconte_

I dreamt of a place full of sand that night. The ground was feet deep in the stuff, and great billowy clouds of it roiled around me angrily. Wind howled, and it seemed as though I could hear words mixed in with the roar; snatches of conversations, arguments, and speeches of all sorts contained in this storm of sand.

I struggled to move through the gritty gusts that battered me from every direction; it seemed extremely important that I find something, though what I had no idea.

A strange light had suddenly appeared in front of me, its color tinged with blue and white, its distance difficult to judge; it could have been one step or a thousand. Either way, I knew I had to reach it.

I stretched out my hands as I staggered forward, the sand seeming to grasp at my feet, the very air seeming to solidify as though to halt my motion, but with painstaking slowness, I was gaining ground. My fingers were a foot away, then an inch and then-

I jolted awake, my right had flying to the hilt concealed beneath my jacket, my left grabbing someone's throat.

"Hey! Take it easy! It's just me," Gia choked out, his own hands held defensively out in front of himself.

I instantly released him, feeling embarrassment rising within my chest. "I'm sorry… I was dreaming," I said.

He stepped back, rubbing his neck. "I noticed," he commented dryly. "You're going to be late for school if you don't hurry up. And don't forget that we have our first lesson tonight."

I growled under my breath and sat up stiffly, my bruised ribs aching dully.

My brother was watching me carefully. "You alright?"

I got to my feet. "Just a bit sore; I'll be down in five," I answered curtly, waving him away.

"Okay, but if you're not taking a shower make sure you wear deodorant. You don't smell too good when you're irritated," he added as he fled, laughing, out the door.

I muttered something obscene in one of the dwarfish languages before going and getting ready.

True to my word, I emerged fully clothed into the kitchen exactly five minutes later. I found a granola bar and a note telling me to hurry to school.

My spirits lifted slightly as I pulled out of our drive and hit the accelerator;

I liked being able to drive like a maniac and have a legitimate reason to do so. After all, it wouldn't do for an honors student to be late.

I walked through the front doors with plenty of time to spare, although it wasn't as early as I would have liked; students had already crowded into the hallways, which made them difficult to pass through. I worked my way around the many small herds of students with ease, nonetheless.

The corridor outside Lee's classroom was more congested than some of the others, and I wondered why vaguely as I threaded between people to get to the door. Just as I reached it and pushed it open, turning to my left as I did so, someone slammed into my side hard enough to propel both of us into the classroom.

I landed hard beneath whoever it was, gasping painfully in an attempt to regain the breath that had just whooshed out of my lungs. My body reacted instinctively to protect itself, and I kicked mightily at the boy who had landed on me.

The action threw him backwards, landing him on his back halfway out of the room, his body playing the part of door-stop.

Shocked silence filled the area as the proverbial dust settled. Then Mr. Lee strode over to the doorway, grabbed the teenager on the floor by the shoulder, and hauled him to his feet, at which point he half dragged the guy out into the hall, demanding to know what had just happened.

The door slammed shut and I ceased caring about the outside comings and goings beyond being unbelievably annoyed. I focused on trying to regain my breath, a task that seemed nearly impossible considering the pain in my ribs, which had just escalated again.

A hand suddenly entered my field of vision, and I looked up, confused. My confusion turned to surprise as I saw the owner of the limb.

Kaiba stood staring down at me, his face as unreadable as it had been last night. "I'm not going to stand here all day," he said.

I slowly reached up to grasp his hand, still trying to breathe properly. "Why are you being so helpful all of a sudden?" I asked in a rather hoarse voice as he pulled me to my feet.

His eyes narrowed slightly. "Now we're even." And he turned and stalked back to his desk, picking up the book that he had apparently discarded and resuming reading it.

I hobbled my way to my own desk, the pain gradually fading to a manageably dull ache as I moved, my breath becoming increasingly regular.

Thank God they didn't break again…

I sat down just in time for Mr. Lee to re-enter the room.

He looked at the floor I had just occupied blankly for a second, before turning to look at me. He seemed to hesitate for a moment before asking, "Are you alright?"

I watched him coolly, in control once again. "Yes," I said clearly.

He returned his attention to his computer, and a moment later people started trickling through the door.

Yugi and Co. were among the first ones in. After dropping their books at their desks, they congregated at mine.

I hope this isn't becoming a habit.

"Morning, Gerilynn," Tea greeted me amiably, at which the others added a chorus of greetings.

"Hey," I returned neutrally.

"How'd it go yesterday?" she continued.

"Fine; do any of you know if there was some kind of fight or something this morning?" I asked nonchalantly.

Joey answered me. "Yeah, a couple of guys got in a fight over a girl or something dumb like that. How did you know?"

"Let's just say I ran into someone who had some knowledge on the subject," I said, my side aching noticeably. "I think Mr. Lee's about to get started: you guys better get back to your seats."

They glanced around to see the room full and the teacher rising from his chair and promptly retreated.

Class started and moved quickly, so that it seemed I had only been there about fifteen minutes when the bell rang. This suited me just fine, and I lifted my bag over my shoulder carefully and hurried off to engineering, Bakura accompanying me, as he had the past few days.

This class went by fast as well, until I finished the assignment, anyway. Then I was left with nothing to do again and after growing bored of playing with the Inventor software, I looked around the room for something to occupy my attention.

I found nothing more interesting than a couple of guys who were apparently trying to determine which could model a better… obscenity on the computer. So I decided to observe my neighbor's actions for a while.

I had finished before Kaiba this time, and I watched him work with some vague interest.

"Need something?" he asked rather snidely as he submitted his work.

I was entirely unashamed to be caught staring, so to speak. "Nothing you can provide, thanks. I just have nothing better to do than watch someone else work, and who in their right mind passes up an opportunity like that?"

He humphed in answer and pulled out his laptop. And that was as exciting as that particular class got.

Lunch was short and blessedly quiet, as I had retreated to the courtyard. I wasn't really in a social mood.

My next classes also went by without incident, although PE made my bruise ache; we had run the PACER test, which was a series of consecutive sprints that increased in speed each cycle. I ran eighty laps and then decided that the activity had gotten old and stopped. I set the record in the class.

By the time the last bell rang at the end of pre-calculus, I was bored out of my mind and grateful to escape to the outside world. I bade Yugi and his friends farewell at the front doors and hurried out to my car.

I buckled into the driver's seat, turned the key in the ignition, and then sat still for a moment, thinking and fiddling with the radio. I found an agreeable station and drove back to the house, leaving the traffic and the speed-limit behind me once I reached the city limits.

When I walked into the living room, I found Shane sitting cross-legged on the back of our huge leather couch, balancing on the narrow ridge and pulling on the jacket portion of his gi. He looked up as I entered and grinned. "Hey, sis."

I smiled back, saying, "Gia won't be happy that you're sitting up there; you know how he values his furniture." Our expressions became serious for a moment as we looked at each other, and then we both laughed.

"Ha, ha, ha; you two are hilarious." Gia spoke from our left as he came into the room, already sporting his own uniform. He walked over to Shane and swiftly fixing the boy's top and tying a belt around his waist. As he worked, he glanced over at me. "Go get changed," he ordered.

"Why can't we just wear gym clothes or something?" I mumbled as I left.

"Because we look more professional this way and because I said so."

I sighed resignedly, accepting the fact that he was going to be a monumental pain in the neck until he got used to being a teacher again. I climbed the stairs and ducked into my room to drop my school things and change. I then changed into a jet black gi and tied on a silver belt, my ribs twinging as I slipped into the jacket. The back was embroidered with the symbol of a silver four-rayed star inscribed in the white outline of a circle.

I started to leave, then had a thought and went into my bathroom, found a hair tie, and pulled my hair into a low ponytail. I glanced at myself in the mirror on my way out of the room, noting that I looked more natural in the attire.

By the time I had made my way back downstairs, I could detect the sound of voices to my left and followed them to the back door. I glanced out the window to find my brothers talking to our new "students". I took a breath, the ache in my side throbbing dully.

Here we go… I opened the door and strode outside. _ _

A/N:

So, yeah… It's a very mild cliffhanger, I suppose. I don't really have anything to say. Nothing really happens in this chapter, but it seemed as though it would drag on forever if I wrote in the first "lesson". I promise to have the next chapter up by tomorrow night, in recompense.

Please enjoy and R&R if possible.


	13. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12:**

_Now I found myself throwing a fight for the sake of my brother's learning, and as I hit the ground the only thought running through my mind was: 'If only I was an only child.'_

I strode lithely over to Gia, taking my usual place to his right; Shane flanked him on his other side. I received a light glare from my older brother, probably because I was technically "late", and then he launched back into his lecture.

"Now that we are all here, I can explain how I want this to work. First things first though: you two should change. Our locker room is through that door and to your right," he started, indicating a door past the right end of our back porch. "You'll find several _gi_ there; you can take whichever ones you like. Normally, we'll just wear gym clothes, but I want to evaluate the two of you today, so I figured a little extra padding wouldn't hurt."

"Cool," Mokuba commented, looking excited as he turned towards the house. He stopped and looked up at his brother before he took more than two steps. "Come on."

Kaiba looked faintly annoyed, and I knew the idea of following my brother's "commands" was displeasing to him, to say the least. However, he followed Mokuba without complaint.

Gia looked at me as they disappeared. "You're a bit late to the party, don't you think?"

I raised my eyebrows. "Yeah, how long have they been here, five minutes? Oh, I'm such a bad person. I think I'll go cry in my bathroom now," I countered, making as if to leave. He grabbed my arm and pulled me back.

"You know, you could have been quite the queen in another life; the queen of drama, that is. I just said you were a little late," he said, his tone exasperated.

I frowned. "I take that offensively; when have I ever been overly dramatic about anything?"

His eye twitched slightly, and he opened his mouth to speak, thought better of it, and started talking to Shane.

I rolled my eyes and ignored them.

Five minutes later, the two Kaibas reemerged, wearing simple white _gi_ with blue belts. I thought the elder brother looked very stiff in something so casual.

"Are we going to get started or not?" he demanded irritably as he approached.

"Yes, so if you'll just follow me, we can get going," Gia said, turning to follow a path into the woods that crowded around the edges of our back yard. "I think we'll warm up a bit first, and then you two can show me what you're made of."

"Hmph."

Our journey ended at a clearing where the ground had been cleared of debris and the dirt packed into a smooth, level floor; a large piece of canvas had been spread in the middle. Gia stopped in the center of the cloth and turned to face the rest of us.

"Let's get started then," he said, and then we stretched and did a few mild exercises. The process took about fifteen minutes, and neither of the two pupils looked too worn by it.

"Alright; I'm going to have you two spar with one of us so I can determine your individual skill levels. I think we will start with you, Kaiba, so please step into the ring," Gia instructed, moving to the edge of the "ring" himself and looking over at me expectantly.

I cocked my head to one side, surprised. "What?"

He nodded toward the canvas and said, "If I do it, I won't be able to observe as well." His tone made it clear that there was going to be no arguing.

I fought the urge to roll my eyes and sigh, instead moving to one side of the mat and standing there, opposite Kaiba. "You want _me_ to attack _him_, or vice versa?" I asked blandly.

"Hmm… Why don't you start us off? After all, this is supposed to be a defensive class," Gia answered, sounding as though he were thoroughly enjoying himself.

I nodded, glancing around and letting my senses kick into overdrive. I focused on my opponent, who stood looking defiant, but surprisingly well balanced, watching my every move like a hawk. A slow smirk spread across my lips as I watched him watching me, and then I crouched slightly, tensing my muscles one by one in preparation to spring at the weakness I had just found, my former irritation with the situation sliding away as the thrill of the coming fight thrummed through my body. I may have been a terrible swordswoman, but I was unstoppable in hand-to-hand combat.

Kaiba blinked once, and it was all the distraction I needed. I bounded forward, twisting to my left as I approached to move around behind him and making to cuff the back of his head. He reacted quickly, turning and bringing an arm around to block my strike, but he wasn't fast enough to stop the strike; my hand was deflected slightly, but the heel of my palm still grazed his forehead, throwing him off balance long enough for me to sweep his legs out from under him. In an instant I was standing over him, one foot planted firmly on his sternum to prevent him from rising, the other pinning his right hand to the ground; he glared up at me with loathing.

"Er… do I need to specify that you don't need to go all out here, Gerilynn?" Gia called uncomfortably from the sidelines. "Let him up and then go again. I can't learn anything if you don't give him a chance to fight back." _'What's wrong with you? You know better than to do something like that to a new student. Get off him!'_ he added mentally.

I felt my face heat slightly at his rebuke and at my own apparent lack of control. I stepped back and held out a hand that I knew would be ignored.

Kaiba got to his feet, his eyes suddenly cold and furious. He moved back into his previous position and snapped, "What are you just standing there for?"

I returned to my own place on the other side of the mat, readying myself for another attack. I was careful, however, not to let myself get as carried away as I had before. I stared down my opponent, noting that his answering gaze was calculating, analytical.

At a nod from my older brother, I started forward with my arms assuming a basic ready position, moving less fluidly and noticeably slower, as a less experienced fighter might. As I passed the center point of the canvas, I broke into a running charge, drawing back my right arm to swing. I stepped inside his guard, using my left hand to knock aside his own left hand as he tried to grab my hand, loosely fisted, as I drove it toward his face and…doubled over in agony as a fist slammed into my ribs with a ridiculous amount of force.

I tried to throw myself off to the side to gain time to recover, but that thought was shattered as Kaiba took full advantage of my sudden lack of balance, cuffing my shoulder and then knocking my legs out from under me, the same way I had taken him down a few moments prior.

The blue-eyed teen planted one foot solidly on my diaphragm and looked down at me contemptuously. "I win," he said, his brother cheering in the background.

"_You_ win?" I asked dangerously. "That was a dirty trick and you know it."

"I thought the point of the exercise was to see if I could hold my own in any fight, not whether I can fight fair," Kaiba answered, his tone mocking.

I narrowed my eyes, but bit my tongue for fear of saying something I would regret later. I grabbed his ankle and threw his foot off, rolling to my feet quickly and painfully.

Honestly, I had no reason to be upset; it wasthe intention of the exercise to see if he could think on his feet as much as it was to see if he could fight. The only real damage done was to my pride.

"Well done, Kaiba, although that was a bit rough. No need to hit so hard next time," Gia called from the side. _'Are you okay?'_

_'I'm fine…'_ I answered silently.

"One more, and then we'll move on to Mokuba," he dictated.

I resumed my ready position, fighting the proud anger that burned in my gut and the renewed ache in my side. "Let's go."

Both of us were more wary this time around, and it became even more evident that Kaiba was an opponent not to be taken lightly even in an unfamiliar arena when he once again managed to take me down. He had feinted at my left side, and when I shifted my guard (and my balance), he slammed his shoulder into my right side. The impact was enough to cause me to tip sideways, and seeing as how I was trying to keep my skill level equal to his, I allowed myself to fall.

"Good… Mokuba, I'd like you to spar with Shane a bit, so clear the mat," Gia said, beckoning us over.

"Okay," the little Kaiba said cheerily. "But I have to warn you, Shane: you're going down."

Shane grinned at his friend. "Yeah right," he drawled as he walked onto the canvas.

A moment later, the two were trading open handed blows, and I was watching from Gia's side. On a whim, I diverted my eyes to my right so I could observe Kaiba, mildly curious regarding how he would react when Mokuba inevitably fell.

The tall teen looked impassive at first glance, but upon more thorough examination I thought he looked tense, more so than usual. His jaw was tighter, his shoulders stiffer, and his posture looked painfully straight. I saw his fist clench for a second when Shane threw his dark-haired opponent to the ground from behind.

"Wow, you're fast," Mokuba said ruefully as Shane helped him to his feet again.

"Yeah… You're pretty quick, too, though," Shane returned, letting go of the other boy's hand. He looked over at Gia and asked, "Again?"

Gia stroked his chin thoughtfully, thinking. "Your fight was longer than theirs," he said, jerking his head first in my direction and then in Kaiba's. "I have a pretty good idea what I've got to work with: you don't need to go again."

Shane shrugged his shoulders. "Guess you won't get a shot for revenge today," he joked with his black haired counterpart.

"I'll get you eventually," Mokuba vowed playfully.

_How different he is from his brother…_

"What are we going to do now, then?" Kaiba demanded, sounding impatient.

"Now I need to talk to my siblings alone for a moment, so we are going to go for a little walk. You two can do whatever you want; just don't wander to far from the clearing. I'll have lessons figured out by the time I get back," Gia answered, spinning on his heel and leading Shane and I into the forest. He stopped walking just out of earshot of the others and waited for us to catch up.

"So what's the diagnosis, doc?" I inquired.

"Well, they fight pretty well for their ages and background. Both are very fast for people of this dimension, and they both have surprisingly good balance. Mokuba is less focused than his brother, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Kaiba's style is a lot like yours, Gerilynn: he fights with his head," he reeled off.

I processed the information in the silence that followed this deliverance. "I'm afraid I see where you're going with this line of thinking, so go ahead and tell me what your plans are," I said wearily.

"You know, Gerilynn, you don't always have to be so doom and gloom: maybe Gia's going to tell us we're all going to go get ice cream," Shane admonished cheerfully.

I looked at him. "Ice cream? Really?"

"It could happen…" he muttered.

"Sorry Shane, but we're not getting ice cream. Considering that Mokuba's style closely resembles yours and mine, I figure we'll focus on his training closer than the pessimist will," Gia began. "You, Gerilynn, will supervise Kaiba. I'll help out when you need me to, but I think he would be able to use your analytical, over-complicated, super-nerd technique better than my lowly, straight forward approach." His expression was highly amused.

Mine however, lacked any trace of the emotion. "Why are you doing this to me?"

"Because I think it will be good for both of you. Now come on; your student is probably having a hissy fit about 'wasting valuable time' or some other garbage." With that he and Shane strode back to the clearing, unaware (or pretending to be) of the finger I was displaying for him.

A/N:

HA! I made the deadline. I feel rather accomplished. This chapter certainly has more action in it, and I hope it doesn't sound too repetitive. I'm assisting my younger sister with a project of her own on Wattpad, so I'm in a really author-like mood right now. This is probably why I have updated twice in two days. That coupled with a lack of homework because of midterms. But now I'm just wasting your time reading all this, so I'll say this and leave you to your devices: please enjoy and R&R. And Merry Christmas.


	14. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13:**

_There is time for work. And time for love. That leaves no other time. _

_Coco Chanel_

"After discussing what I just witnessed with my siblings, I have decided to split the two of you up. Your styles are extremely different, and I don't intend to try and teach you completely new ways of fighting when your own already seem to work," Gia explained to the two Kaibas once he and Shane returned to the clearing; I had lingered among the trees, loathe to submit to my brother's diabolical plan. "Mokuba, the way you fight is reasonably similar to the way Shane and I do. Accordingly, he and I will focus on training you."

"Awesome, but where does that leave Seto?" Mokuba asked curiously.

I sighed and strode out into the open. "That leaves him with me. Apparently your style is almost identical to mine," I said wearily as I approached the group.

"Great," Kaiba muttered sarcastically. "I fight like a girl. Just great."

I glared and responded, "I'm not happy about it either."

"Hey, hey, hey; take it easy. I know what I'm doing. Like I said before, it would be pointless for me to teach you my way, because you wouldn't learn anything you could use," Gia interrupted uneasily. "Now, Shane, Mokuba, and I are going to go talk about a few ideas for our next meeting; I suggest you two do the same. Just do me a favor and try not to kill each other, okay?" He gestured the other two to follow him as he walked off toward the house.

I stared after him disbelievingly for a moment before I shook my head and looked at Kaiba again. "Well… Got any ideas? He kind of just sprang this on me."

He folded his arms and said skeptically, "Aren't you supposed to be the expert here?"

I raised my eyebrows. "Did you really just admit that I'm better at something then you are? I feel honored," I answered, mimicking his tone and crossing my own arms.

He narrowed his eyes at me. "Isn't that the point? You're supposed to try and teach me something I don't know, which would imply you having more knowledge in the subject area in question than I do."

I blinked. "I know- and that, my friend, is why I am in charge here, and not you. Which I would say upsets you quite a bit," I said with a shrug. "Moving on, I guess I might run a few scenarios by you next time, just to see how you would react, and then we can probably do some basic agility and flexibility exercises, because between you and me, you were as stiff as a board when we were fighting."

"I can't have been that stiff: I managed to knock you down twice, didn't I?" he argued.

"You know I let you. In any case, during our first match, the reason that that shot to your forehead threw you off balance so badly was because you didn't lean out of it at all: you were focusing too much on retaliating. A wise man once said that 'he who stands like a pillar dies in battle,' and it's a philosophy that I have found to be quite true," I reasoned. I watched him closely, curious as to whether he would argue further.

He was quiet for a moment, then: "I suppose that's what we're doing Monday, then. Are we done here?" Once again, his face was impassively emotionless.

"Now that you mention it, yes we are. We might as well head back," I said. I turned and started off along the path that led back to the house; he followed, easily catching up and keeping pace with my long strides.

About halfway back I spoke. "There's probably no point in asking this, but I hate assuming anything, so tell me: you do plan on going in to work this afternoon, right?"

Kaiba looked over at me, his expression as disdainful as though I had just asked him what two plus two equaled. "What do you think?"

"_I_ think that I wouldn't mind having the night off, but seeing as how it's not what _I_ think that matters in this situation, we must ask ourselves what _you_ think. And I have a feeling that _you_ think I should just shut up and go get changed," I answered circuitously as we neared the house, looking at him sidelong, my face perfectly serious.

"You seem to have a habit of giving people long-winded, convoluted answers to rhetorical questions. Has anyone ever told you it's annoying?" he snapped as we entered the house and his path diverted from mine.

I scowled after the retreating teen for a moment before continuing further into the manor-like house and hurrying up the stairs. I passed my brothers in the kitchen as I did so, receiving half-amused, half-sympathetic looks.

Fifteen minutes later, I had changed and was following the Kaibas' limo to their headquarters in town. I was also mentally kicking myself for accepting the late shift on this job.

Kaiba had refused to wait for me to accompany him into the building as I would have liked, and so by the time I had walked into the office he was already there, apparently immersed in his work. He didn't bother to acknowledge my arrival.

I settled against the wall in the same manner I had the previous day, resigning myself to a good six hours or so of idling.

About two and a half hours in, I grew restless and starting covertly searching the room for something interesting to look at. After thoroughly examining the potted plant in the corner for ten minutes, I was in need of a better subject; my eyes alighted on the young CEO's face, for lack of anything else.

Over the course of my inspection, I started noticing why indeed the other girls at school seemed to crave his attention. I had never really looked at him just to look before; on the relatively few previous occasions that I had paid his face any attention at all, it had been to analyze his emotions, predict his next move. Now that I was taking time to notice, he really was considerably good looking.

His chocolate hair fell around his eyes in a way that somehow looked intentionally shaggy. His eyes themselves were a far more intriguing shade of sapphire than I had thought at first, seeming to be simultaneously shallow and harmless as a wading pool and deep and mysterious as the ocean. My eyes drifted downward slowly, taking in his straight nose and well formed lips, before returning to his eyes. At which point I realized he was staring back at me, his expression suspicious and hostile.

"What are you staring at?" Kaiba asked sharply.

I started. "I think the answer to your question is rather obvious," I said somewhat sheepishly.

"You know what I meant." Now he was glaring at me again.

"If you're trying to ask why I was staring at you, I was bored and you're the most interesting thing I could find to look at," I rejoined with a shrug.

The other teen looked somewhat confused for a moment, and then he shook his head and resumed typing. "Don't do it again," he ordered, addressing his computer screen.

"Fine." I looked away, staring out the window wall instead.

The relative silence returned and brought with it the boredom. My wandering mind eventually returned to my memories for material and I watched the last half of the scene that had been cut off the night before.

_"His name… was Brekkin."Gia seemed to struggle with the name, and his tone grew dark; his eyes were suddenly dangerous in the darkness, like those of a lion facing down an enemy. _

_ A hiss of recognition rose from the small group, the kind of reaction that you get in an action movie when the villain walks casually into the same room as the unsuspecting main character. _

_ My brother cleared his throat and then continued: "As the sons grew, Orion and his wife often took the boys with them on forays into other lands, teaching them everything they knew so that they may one day take their father's place; for Orion had long learned that nothing in life can be counted as permanent. And happiness reigned for a time._

_ However, unbeknownst to his family, Brekkin had taken a great interest in the dark arts. Without his father's guidance or consent, he began to experiment with his newfound power, and in the shadows he grew stronger, even as his brother grew stronger in the light. _

_ One day, long after the boys had reached manhood, a huge dragon suddenly appeared above the village. Initially, Orion assumed that the creature had come in peace, as he had often consulted with the ancient beasts in the past. He was proven wrong when it landed before the gates of his small city and bellowed its challenge for all to hear. _

_ Apparently the dragon's kin had been destroyed by Orion at one time or another and it was determined to do battle with him to avenge his fallen allies. It threatened to destroy the village if he did not comply._

_ So Orion armed himself for battle, taking his mighty sword, which in this tongue is known as Skycleaver, and belting it on. As he prepared, a strange dread fell heavily onto his heart, and going to his sons, he ordered them not to interfere with the coming battle unless it looked as if the dragon had defeated him and Melia and intended to destroy the city. Orion could feel the ages, heavy in his spirit, that no eternal youth could stave forever, and he knew that his time was fast approaching. _

_ His elfin wife, Melia, accompanied him to confront the dragon, as she always fought beside her husband. She, too, felt the dire call that the battle held. _

_ The battle was long and full of fire and pain and blood, but at last the dragon lay dead upon the ashes of the forest that had once pressed close to the city walls. Alas, there also lay the bodies of Orion the Hunter, First Guardian of the Light, wielder of the Light of Hope, and beside him upon the charred ground rested Melia Star-Brow, last of the Elder race of the elves to remain among mortals._

_ Then Orion II strode out from the city with the first ten warriors who could be found among the townsfolk, for his father had kept no standing army, finding no need for on. They lifted the fallen upon their shields and bore them with honor back to the city. The next day they were buried together in a grove of cedars that grew upon the crest of a hill just outside the city._

_ Orion II claimed his father's sword and duties for his own, as was his right and responsibility, and shortly after took an elfin wife of his own. For several centuries, peace and happiness reigned again._

_ Brekkin, however, grew ever more jealous of his brother's happiness, and his darkness grew until he was mad with it. And in the shadows he plotted. _

_ At the end of this period of peace, Orion was granted the gift of children; two sons and a daughter. The sons were their parents' pride and joy, but the daughter mysteriously vanished six months after her birth, and was lost. _

_ No one but the demon himself knows why Brekkin chose to launch his plan when he did. Perhaps his brother's happiness was just too much for his jealous madness to handle. Whatever the case, on the winter solstice of the youngest son's third year, he and ten of his disciples…" _

_ Here Gia broke off, trembling visibly, and cleared his throat. _

_ "You don't have to tell this part, you know," Shane said softly from the side, laying a hand on our brother's shoulder._

_ "No… I should; the others have never heard the full tale, and I think they've earned the right to know," he replied, his voice growing somewhat stronger._

_ "Brekkin's disciples fell upon the village, slaughtering and burning with impunity, for they were protected by their master's arts, and by powers of their own. Within minutes, everything in the city that would hold a flame was ablaze, and alarm bells tolled fiercely, seeking the aid of their patrons._

_ As his students destroyed the village, Brekkin entered his brother's manor, which had once been his father's, and found Orion II and his wife arming themselves to go to the succor of their people. There he challenged his brother to a fight to the death, and refused to let either of them pass until he submitted. _

_ Then Orion II saw what he had been so long blind to, and he charged his recreant brother, Skycleaver in hand, his wife at his side. They fought for what felt like hours, until Brekkin disarmed and wounded both with an underhanded trick, causing Skycleaver to fly aside. Then he stood mocking his brother._

_ Brekkin was unaware, however, of the nine year old boy at whose feet the great sword landed. He picked it up and at once understood what had happened, charging his uncle with the word 'Traitor!' on his lips. _

_ Brekkin laughed as he looked upon his young attacker, catching his wrist and breaking it, forcing him to drop the sword. _

_ The boy yelled in agony, struggling to free his wrist from the traitor's grip; Brekkin threw the boy at his parents hard enough to knock all of them to the ground._

_ Orion II ordered his son to take his sword and his younger brother and run as far away as they could, his eyes full of anguish. Then he and his wife gave their son their final blessing, and ordered him to leave, as Orion II had instructed…" _

_ Again my brother broke off, his voice quavering, his body shaking. Shane reached over and wrapped his arm around Gia's waist and I did likewise from his other side. _

_ "You really don't need to finish it. We know what happened," I said quietly. _

_ The others around the circle were nodding and murmuring condolences. The white haired man stood, his masked face making it difficult to decipher his emotions. _

_ "It was brave of you to do what you did that day, Gia. There was nothing else that could have been done," he said, his voice tinged with intermingling pride and sorrow. "I think everyone should go get some rest; you never know what tomorrow may bring."He walked over to us, laid a hand on the top of my older brother's head for a moment, and then departed. _

_ Irishi, the blonde boy, was the last to leave, smiling at me before he disappeared from the firelight…_

I snapped to attention as Kaiba addressed me, mentally shaking the fog from my brain.

"I'm leaving, so you're free to go," he ordered as he stood.

For the second time that night, I shrugged. "I'm not leaving until I see you walk out the door, so you may as well lead the way," I said.

"Whatever," he growled, striding around his desk and through the door.

I followed, and was home about half an hour later. When I glanced at the clock on my bedside table, I about choked. It was 2:00 in the morning.

_Wow… I didn't realize it was this late... Why does Kaiba do this to himself? There can't be that much work to do, considering all the employees he has…_ _At least now I've got something to do tomorrow night._

With that, I pulled on my pajamas, flopped down on my bed, and fell asleep.

The next morning I rolled out of bed at six and ran through my morning routine quickly, with one minor change; I turned the nozzle in the shower to the coldest setting possible to wake up my brain, which was fuzzy from sleep and lack thereof.

By the time I was in the car, I was thoroughly awake. My brothers had left early to do some mysterious errand in the city according to the note they left me, so once again I didn't bother with the speed limit.

Kaiba was already sitting at his desk when I walked into first period, and I could tell he was substantially more tired than he had been the day before; I could smell coffee from across the room and there were faint circles under his eyes.

He glowered when he noticed me staring at him again. "I thought I told you to stop that," he said irritably. He kept his voice low despite the fact that Mr. Lee had just left the room with a stack of file folders in hand.

"Excuse me for being a bit concerned; you didn't leave your office until half past one this morning," I retorted, matching his tone.

"If you don't like it, then do me a favor and quit," Kaiba snapped back. Then he returned is attention to the leather-bound book in his hand, signaling the end of the conversation.

"That's a likely scenario," I said softly to myself. Setting aside the fact that my brother would shun me for the rest of the century if I resigned, I, as a personal rule, never quit at anything until I had reached what I dictated to be a reasonable stopping point.

Yugi and his friends greeted me in their usual cheerful way, and at the bell Mr. Lee began class. Once things started moving, the day flashed by incredibly quickly: it seemed that I skipped second and third periods and went straight to lunch.

I again shared a table with Yugi's "clan"; I could feel a routine starting to form. As I sat down, I remembered something that I needed to ask them about but Yugi spoke before I could.

"We're all meeting over at my place to hang out this afternoon if you want to join us," he offered shyly.

"Yeah, everyone's bringing their own take-out and we're watching movies and playing games all night," Joey added enthusiastically.

"As much as I would like to, I can't: I have to work tonight," I said ruefully. And I found that I really was sad I couldn't go; hanging around them seemed to counteract my usually melancholy mood.

"How late do you work? Maybe you could drop by on your way home," Tea suggested.

For some reason, I found the question immensely funny, and I couldn't stop a small laugh from escaping. "It depends how late my, er, _employer_ works. And he doesn't seem to count sleep as a necessity," I chuckled.

They looked at me askance for a second, and then Tristan asked, "How late were you up last night?"

"Not really important; I probably shouldn't have brought it up at all. Anyway, are we still on for tomorrow's trip?" I inquired, referring to the excursion to the Domino Arcade we had spoken about before.

"Yeah, definitely," Tea said.

"Good: I have a feeling I'm going to want a break tomorrow." I unwrapped the sandwich I had brought from home as I spoke, taking a bite.

Everyone turned to their food after that, and it was relatively quiet until the bell rang. Time sped up again, and before I knew it I was back in my car, trying to think of something to do until it was time to go to work. I had about three and a half hours, and I decided to find a place to park and catch a power nap, considering I had less than four hours of sleep under my belt.

Unable to think of anywhere better suited to the task, I simply drove to work and parked in the employee parking garage, sliding into a space that was coincidentally right next to my brothers'.

I set the alarm on my phone to go off at five and clambered into the back seat, wadding up my pink school blazer to use as a pillow. I drifted off, waking what seemed a very short time later at the sound of my phone.

I changed in my car again, despite that I had previously decided not to, and walked up to the office for another long, boring night.

I spent most of the time deciphering Kaiba's incessant typing, relying on the placement of his fingers on the keyboard and the unique sound that the different keys made as they were hit. I stored my findings away to be analyzed at a later date.

I fell onto my bed at 1:37. I rolled over and again succumbed to sleep, the only thought in my head that I didn't have to wake up early the next morning.

In my dreams I was running, back bent and face low to the ground, scanning for sign. My brothers ran about twenty yards away on either side of me, their postures similar to my own. We were hunting, searching for something that I couldn't quite place.

My nostrils flared as I caught the faintest trace of an out-of-place scent, wafted up from a tuft of grass to my right by a slight breeze that I instinctively knew was blowing west. Instantly, I changed course, my brothers stopping dead where they were, afraid to disrupt anything I might have found. I carefully examined the tussock, my sharp eyes scanning the surfaces of the individual blades for irregularities. I found nothing until I looked at the plant from a broader perspective; it bulged irregularly above the surrounding vegetation, more so than it should have.

I drew a dagger from my side, carefully lifting the drooping stalks aside to look at their stems. I swiftly discovered what I was looking for.

The very tip of a wooden shaft was visible, burrowing into the roots of the plant. I nudged it with the tip of my knife once and jumped back, wary of a trap. Finding myself still alive, I reached forward and brushed some of the soil away, making room for my fingers to grasp it. It was an iron arrow head, the edges serrated and the tip darkened with moisture.

I waved to my brothers and they quickly came to my side, and together we gazed down at the sharp metal. As one we looked up, recognition spreading like light across their faces. The feeling snaked its way into my own emotions, but I didn't really know why. Every time I got close to an answer, it slipped away as things do in dreams.

Suddenly everything shifted, and I was standing on the side of a lonely mountain, ash raining from the sky and hopelessness spreading like the fires that blazed around me. A dark figure approached, walking through the wall of flames; his eyes glowed redder than the embers surrounding me. He loosed a humorless, chilling laugh laced with insanity.

Just as he drew close enough to reveal his features, the world tilted and I was plunging through darkness, voices screaming around me. A circle of light grew steadily larger below, and just as I entered it- I woke up.

I groaned, glancing over at the clock on my bedside table; it was 5:00 in the morning. I glared at the ceiling, sleepily frustrated.

"Is there some kind of cosmic law against sleeping more than four hours at a time?" I complained to myself exasperatedly.

_ 'No,' _Gia projected, his consciousness brushing mine._ 'But there should be one concerning sisters who talk to themselves at five o'clock Saturday morning.' _

A/N:

Another chapter finished. I don't know that it's my best work, but it's not my worst either. Do me a favor and let me know if you think it sounds choppy at all.

I actually have chapter 15 done already, but 14 got neglected, so now I have to go back and write it; funny how that sometimes works.

Anyway, thanks to my reviewers: you help me stay motivated. Really, thanks to my readers in general. Please enjoy and review, if at all possible. Merry Christmas. Again.


	15. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14:**

"_Don't underestimate the value of doing nothing, of just going along, listening to all the things you can't hear, and not bothering."_

I had tossed and turned in my bed for another hour before I finally admitted defeat and threw back off my blankets; there was no way I was getting back to sleep. I sat up, pondering my next move for a moment before an idea struck me, and I sprang into action.

I dressed in a well-worn pair of jean cutoffs and a gray pocket t-shirt, coaxing my unruly hair into a ponytail. I performed my usual morning ablutions and headed downstairs.

I took an apple from the kitchen and continued down the corridor that led to the garage, slipping through the door as quietly as possible. Once I was among the vehicles, I moved across the room, entering a separate, pitch-black chamber by way of another door. I groped along the wall to my left until I found the light switch.

The bright, industrial lights hummed to life overhead, illuminating a cavernous room full of tools and numerous projects in various stages of completeness. A sleek black car, outwardly the twin of my Camaro, rested on a hydraulic lift, a set of metal wings was suspended overhead, above a second car that was hidden by a dustcover, and small devices were scattered around the room on workbenches and sawhorses. Tools were everywhere, steel boxes full of them lining an entire wall, while others hung on pegboard tacked above the boxes, and still others surrounded the projects; power tools stood in lines around the room or rested on shelves. Beneath the shelves stood metal cabinets, their contents hidden from view by heavy doors. A large bronze urn in a corner held close to a hundred rolled up blueprints, and several others were visible on the walls and benches. A large section of the room was overhung by a second floor made out of steel catwalk, on which a couch, stereo set, computer desk, and office chair were visible.

I took a deep breath, relishing the smell of grease and sawdust and motor oil. This was my workshop, and it was my favorite room in the house; here I could tinker and build and modify to my heart's content. I ascended a spiral staircase next to the urn of blueprints and threw myself down on the couch, taking a satisfied bite of the apple in my hand.

Once I finished my breakfast, I abandoned the couch and took a laptop of the computer desk, descending once more and approaching the Camaro. I had been working on it for a while now, making a number of modifications both mundane and magical to mold it to my purposes.

I woke up the laptop, the Greek ∆ on the top glowing blue, and scrolled through the designs until I located the one that pertained to the car's electronics system, picking up a pair of wire cutters and going to work.

I lost myself in the inner workings of the car's central computer, temperamental gear ratios, and the twisted thicket of metal that formed its engine. Time always seemed to disappear when I was working, and thus when Shane showed up to tell me that Gia was looking for me, I was startled to find that I had been working for two hours.

I was thoroughly coated in grease, and when Shane and I marched into our older brother's "office", Gia gave me a look that was half exasperated, half amused.

"How long have you been in your cave?" Gia asked. He smiled, but his eyes looked uneasy, a lion traveling through poacher-country. He was wearing his work clothes, his blazer slung over the back of his chair.

"Since about six; what's up?" I answered, concern rising in my chest.

"Nothing much: I just thought I'd tell you what Shane and I were up to yesterday morning." His face cleared, but it looked like he made a conscious effort to affect it.

"Oh… Well, let's hear it then," I said, sinking into the ornate, leather-padded chair that was directly opposite him.

He visibly winced as I kicked my dirty bare feet up onto his desk, tilting the chair back on two legs and tucking grease-streaked arms behind my head. "Could you _not_ do that, please? I'd rather not have motor oil all over my furniture," Gia requested, his tone almost making it a command.

I raised my eyebrows at him. "You're the one who told Shane to bring me directly here, not me. Get over it and tell me whatever it is you wanted to tell me, you big baby."

Shane sniggered from my left.

Gia shook his head in defeat. "You're cleaning anything you get dirty," he allowed. "Anyway, we have some slightly more important things to discuss. We went in early to talk to some producers who wanted to approach us with a deal." He used the business-like manner he always employed whenever he spoke about our careers.

"Ah… What kind of deal?" I inquired curiously.

"They had some crazy multi-million dollar record deal they wanted us to take," he explained.

I cracked a grin. "You told them the usual, then?"

"Oh yes; I explained how we don't make deals with corporate scumbags like them who want to make money, not music. You can imagine their reaction."

Shane and I laughed at that. Gia gave a small smile, but as I quieted I again noticed that he looked rather shifty, as though he had an itch he couldn't scratch.

"Well, I guess we don't need to worry about that. By the way, why aren't you two at work yet?" I asked sharply. "I don't think Kaiba will appreciate lateness, fashionable or not."

"I… I know… I just don't feel too…_settled_ at the moment… I'm afraid something's about to happen," Gia answered quietly, his face troubled.

I exchanged a glance with Shane. "Do you want me to go in?" I offered, trying to keep the reluctance out of my voice. I would willingly do anything for either of my brothers, but that didn't mean I had to like it.

He looked up, a rather fierce expression on his face, his eyes glowing slightly. "No. Aren't you supposed to be hanging out with Yugi and that lot today?"

"Well, yeah, but if you need me…" I trailed off at the look he gave me.

"I was actually planning on leaving right after I spoke to you, so we will see you later tonight," he answered, standing and beckoning Shane to do the same.

They made their way to the garage door, me following in their wake, feeling disproportionately guilty for asking Gia to take my shift.

"You're sure about this?" I asked one last time before Gia pulled out of the driveway.

"Yeah. Don't worry about it- I'll make some excuse or another. See you," he told me.

I watched them go, feeling oddly left out, until the disappeared from my sight. Then I returned to my workshop to pass the time until I needed to get cleaned up; I was supposed to meet everyone at Yugi's place at noon.

Around ten I abandoned the dirt-bike I had been working on and went upstairs to shower and change, wiping my oily hands on my shirt before I touched the doorknob. Half an hour later, I emerged from my bathroom, my damp hair hanging down around my shoulders, wearing a pair of jeans and a simple purple t-shirt. I pulled on a pair of tennis shoes and grabbed my phone and keys; I also stuffed my driver's license and a roll of money into my pocket.

I stopped in my closet to grab a small leather satchel on a long cord, the flap of which had the images of an eagle, a lion, and a Pegasus standing side by side in front of a four rayed star embossed in silver. The bag had been a gift from my brothers, and it was far more useful than it appeared. Slinging it over my shoulder, I proceeded on my way downstairs and out into the garage where I climbed into my car and started the engine.

Just before I could pull out, my phone hummed, seeking attention. I dug the slim mobile out of my pocket and found a text from my brother;

He's pissed. I think he'll get over it, though. Probably best if you didn't answer this. I'm pushing him as it is sending this to you. Don't worry about it. Have fun. –G

I groaned sympathetically; I could imagine the rant they had endured. I shook my head as I put the Camaro in gear, fighting guilt. I revved the engine as I reached the end of our long drive, spinning the car out onto the highway expertly. As I had proven on many previous occasions, the concept of a speed limit was one of the few that my brain refused to fully understand. Why on Earth would anyone waste time traveling when there was so very much to do in life?

When I entered the game shop, Yugi and Tea were helping Solomon unpack a shipment of cards and all three of them had looked up from their task to greet me. I was invited to make myself at home until Joey and Tristan arrived, my offer of help having been declined on the grounds that "We're almost finished anyway." So I leaned against a small stretch of bare wall between a couple of displays and conversed idly with them until the final members of our party strolled in at about quarter to noon.

Once everyone had exchanged words of welcome, we set off for the arcade, Mr. Mutou calling after us to "be careful and have fun". After a few moments of somewhat awkward quiet, the conversation restarted.

"So how did you like your first week in our city, huh, Gerilynn?" Joey asked me, stretching his arms grandly as though he really believed he owned Domino.

"Well, I have definitely seen worse," I answered easily.

"Aw, come on. That's all you've got to say about it?" Tristan cajoled jokingly.

"I mean the place seems to be pretty nice and all, but I don't know too much about it yet. Let's face it: all I've had time for is school and work. I won't pretend to have an opinion about something I know nothing about," I elaborated. "That's what today is supposed to be about," I added with a grin.

"That's really all you've done since you got here?" Tea asked, sounding surprised.

"I'm a ridiculously busy individual most of the time. I think I'd get bored if I wasn't."

"Huh… So what were you working on before you started working for Kaiba?" she questioned curiously.

Mentally I laughed: they wouldn't believe the real answer if I told them. "I was helping Gia manage our musical careers; that, along with pursuing a few personal projects kept me on my toes."

"What kind of projects, if you don't mine my asking?" Tristan put in.

"I like to think of myself as something of an inventor. Mostly I just modify pre-existing ideas, but now and again I hit on something no one else has," I explained. Every word was true, but I was careful not to place conditions on the statements.

"Wow, that's kinda cool. You must be really smart," Joey commented.

I smiled at that. "I'd like to think so."

It got quiet after that, and I listened to their conversation more than I actually joined it. One of them would glance at me every now and then, as if to ensure that I was still there. The arcade had just come into view when Tristan spoke to me again.

"You don't talk much, do you?" he observed.

"I don't consider myself much of a talker, no. I speak when I have something to say. It's not you guys, if that's what you were concerned about," I confirmed as we walked up to the double doors of the brightly colored building.

"Heh, heh, well that's good," he said, pulling a door open for the rest of us.

We wandered from game to game, talking about trivial things and having an all around good time. As we neared the back of the cavernous room, I noticed a large crowd gathered around one game in particular: a giant D.D.R. machine.

"You want to have a game?" Tea asked me excitedly.

I raised my hands, shaking my head furiously. "Not me; I have two left feet when it comes to dancing." Not strictly true, but there was no way in hell I was going to make a fool of myself like that.

"Aw, come on: it'll be fun," she pled unavailingly.

"Sorry, but that one's a no go for me," I maintained.

"Alright, I give up. I'll just find another partner," she relented. She arranged to meet back up with us when she was done, and the rest of us set off again in pursuit of some game Joey and Tristan wanted to play.

The game turned out to be a first-person shooter, and once Joey had beaten Tristan at it he invited Yugi and I to play a round.

I shrugged and turned to the shorter boy, who had not spoken to me much that day yet. "What do you think? Are you up for a challenge?" I questioned.

"Sure, why not," he answered easily.

The game wouldn't have been my first choice to play, but I found that if I didn't think overmuch about what I was doing, I could simply react to the images on the screen. It depended a lot on reflexes, which made it that much easier to win. I looked over at Yugi with a grin as I moved to replace my plastic gun in the holder. "Good game, eh?"

He looked up at me somewhat ruefully. "Yeah, you're really good at this game," he said.

Joey and Tristan looked surprised at the outcome.

"No kidding, Yug, I've never seen anyone score that high before," the former commented.

I shrugged again. "I just played the game. Where to next?"

They raced off to another, similar game and became oblivious to the rest of the world.

"Are they always like that?" I asked Yugi laughingly.

He smiled and nodded. "Yup, pretty much."

I glanced around, lowering my tone carefully. "I haven't quite figured out how to explain my story to you yet, but I'm working on it. I haven't forgotten," I told him cautiously.

"I believe you. I didn't think you'd forget," Yugi answered seriously.

"I just wanted to let you know. I'm careful about things like this," I answered just as gravely. "By the way, if there's ever anything I can do to help you all out, just let me know, okay?"

"Thanks," he said. He watched the other boys quietly for a moment and then turned back to me. "So how has your job been going? Kaiba's not giving you too hard a time, I hope," Yugi continued, as though to lighten the mood.

"It's been… mildly interesting at best. I don't think that guy ever stops working."

"Yeah, the only times I've ever seen him _not_ working are when he's dueling or caught up in some mess or another with us," he agreed.

"Speaking of dueling, are you up for a match or two later?" I questioned.

"Definitely," he laughed. "I'm sure Joey will be into it, too."

"Cool: the more the merrier, or so I've heard," I said.

Once the other two finished their game, we went to meet up with Tea, and then everyone voted to get something to eat. I was surprised to see how far the sun had fallen when we emerged from the dark arcade; my watch read 3:30.

After stopping at a small burger joint for an early dinner, we continued on our way back to the Mutous'.

We hadn't been there long before the card games began. Joey insisted on playing me first, on the grounds that Yugi had already had his chance. He beat me once, and I won the other two games, to the surprise of everyone else except Yugi.

"What? I thought you said you weren't very good at this game," Joey exclaimed at the end of our third duel.

"I said I didn't know how well I would be able to play in reality, not that I wasn't any good," I corrected, folding my arms and leaning away from the table.

"What's the matter, Joey, can't stand losing to a girl?" Tristan teased.

Joey launched himself at his friend, wrestling with him good-naturedly, while everyone else laughed. Once they had calmed down, I turned to Yugi. "Rematch?"

"You're on," he accepted happily.

To make a long story short, I lost. I got a lot closer to beating him this time, though, having switched decks. This time, I had used my main deck.

"Wow, that was quite a game," Yugi observed as we finished. "That deck seems to work quite a bit better for you than your other ones."

"Thanks. It's the first one I ever put together, and coincidentally it's always been my favorite. It seems it isn't quite strong enough to take down the champ, though," I said.

"It's funny how that works sometimes, isn't it?" he commented.

"I wouldn't worry about your deck not being good enough to take Yugi down," Joey added from the side. "It held its own a lot better than most."

I accepted the compliment with a small smile. The dueling continued well into the night, Tea and Tristan even playing once or twice. Around 9:30 I started gathering up my cards in preparation to leave. I didn't actually get out the door until ten.

When I got home, I went straight to my workshop. Seeing as how Gia and Shane had yet to return, I figured I may as well get something done. I mounted the steps that led to my office-area and settled on the couch with my laptop.

Upon opening the program I wanted to work on, however, I found that I lacked the ambition to bother with it. Supposing that the last couple of nights were catching up on me, I decided to forego "work" for the night and instead started a movie, stretching out comfortably on the worn leather couch. I fell asleep before the title sequence was over.

Shane woke me when he and Gia returned. "It wasn't so bad. If anyone asks, our horses got loose this morning," the boy told me sleepily, lying down beside me.

"You mean Kaiba bought that?" I asked incredulously.

"He means I sold that," Gia added wearily as he appeared at the top of the stairs.

"You look really tired," I observed, waving him over to join Shane and I.

"Yeah, well I feel pretty tired, too," he said as he sat down on the edge of the couch.

"Wait there a second, I'll be right back," I ordered as an idea struck me.

I stood and leapt lightly to the ground level, removing a large square of four inch thick foam from a compartment in one of the cabinets and several pieces of fleece from another before hauling the materials back up the stairs. I spread the foam on the metal grating, taking up most of the remaining floor space, and tossed the fleeces down on top. Then I threw myself down on one side of the makeshift bed, patting the other side invitingly.

"Lie down. I didn't bring all this stuff up here for you to sit there and stare at," I said, my tone much gentler than my words.

Gia shook his head, but lay down beside me. "You don't make sense sometimes, you know that?"

Shane abandoned the couch, curling up between the two of us. "Hey guys," he prompted as he burrowed deeper into the sheep skins.

"What?" we answered in unison.

"When life gives you lemons, make apple juice, sit back and watch the world wonder how you did it."

I slowly turned my head to stare at the boy in utter confusion; on his other side, Gia had done the same. Then I looked up at Gia and said, "And you say _I_ don't make sense."

* * *

><p>AN:

Here you are: Chapter 14. It feels a bit shaky to me, so it may be edited in the future. I was stricken by writer's block regarding this chapter only, which was really frustrating. But it's here now, so… Yeah…Let me know what ya'll think. Oh dear- it seems my Southern is starting to show.

Thanks to all my reviewers and a happy New Year to all! Enjoy.


	16. Chapter 15

Chapter 15:

_Dogs are wise. They crawl away into a quiet corner and lick their wounds and do not rejoin the world until they are whole once more._

_Agatha Christie_

I stood glaring at the school with unbridled hostility. My right arm ached, bound in rusty gauze that was hidden beneath an Ace bandage; the limb was currently cradled in a sling. It seemed completely unfair that I should have to attend this place of spoiled children and irritatingly pointless rules after the weekend I had just endured.

Sunday had been rough. I had slept for approximately twenty minutes in the past two nights. We had been called to our homeland and left about ten minutes after my brothers and I had fallen asleep in my workshop.

Saturday had been the calm before the storm. As it turned out, my older brother's uneasiness had persisted throughout the day, and the calling to other words had finally become too much for him. He had woken Shane and I with a half panicked look on his face and off we had gone, delaying only to grab armor and weapons.

A contingent of shinobi, led by one of our uncle's servants, had been steadily creeping up on the southern flank of our adopted village. At first, we had interpreted their intention to be the ambush and capture of a villager who held the power of a demon, but as soon as we attacked, our mistake became apparent.

The enemy ninja had been outfitted with enchanted body armor that shielded them from magical attacks of every sort we cared to try, and their weapons were not the usual style for fighters of that dimension. They had carried long crescent shaped swords with blades made of a peculiar sort of crystal that shifted and shimmered when looked at, and which absorbed and regurgitated any magic they came into contact with.

It didn't take my genius to figure out what the true mission of the party was; this was an ambush not for the villager, but for _us_.

We had recruited a couple of my friends, skilled shinobi who had belonged to the elite group I had organized during my time at the village, to even the odds somewhat. Despite our precautions, we had fallen right into the trap.

It had been quite a struggle to escape and even after we halved our enemy's numbers they refused to back down. It seemed that our dear old uncle had forced them to swear oaths that prevented them from abandoning their task.

So we had run, leading them away from the village walls and into the surrounding forest to separate them, marking the beginning of a deadly game of cat and mouse; one in which we weren't always the cats.

The "game" had lasted more than twenty-four hours, until Gia and I finally discovered the hiding place of the sorcerer our uncle had charged with the mission. It took our combined efforts two hours to slay him; we had ordered Shane and our other allies to return to the village, as we didn't want them to make mistakes in their exhaustion that could get them killed or worse.

While fighting the captain I sustained a severe wound on my right arm, inflicted by our enemy at about the same time we figured out he was a shade (the body of a sorcerer in which powerful spirits had been trapped).

I shuddered involuntarily as the scene replayed in my head.

His weapon had exploded upon coming into contact with one of my arrowheads, and so he had pretended that the blast had killed him, as it would have any other being. I had approached to make certain that he was dead and received a blow to my upper arm from a tanto style blade that he had had hidden in his clothing. The only thing that saved my arm was the thin plate armor built into my combat clothing.

All of which, cumulatively, explained the wound and accompanying bad mood.

_It was my own fault, really… I should have been alert for a trick after everything else that monster survived…_

"Nonsense; you did what any great huntress would have done," Gia quipped from my side. His shirt looked slightly bulkier than usual beneath his blazer, an occurrence explained by the bandages wrapped around his torso. He had taken a nasty slash across the chest, though, thankfully, it hadn't been from one of the enchanted blades.

"Should not a great huntress also ensure that her prey has breathed its last before she approaches it? It is one of the first rules of hunting," I argued tiredly.

"Just forget about it. We're all safe and relatively happy, so no harm done," he insisted.

What he failed to mention was that he had sustained his chest injury correcting my mistake, something that haunted my conscience even now.

I let the matter drop, however, as we neared the crowds outside the school. I didn't want to have to explain our conversation to any curious passersby.

I swerved around people quickly and carefully, my exhaustion coupling with my obvious injury to make me jumpy. When I turned down the relatively empty hallway the led to my classroom, my brother stopped me.

"You're sure you're alright to stay here today?" he asked quietly, his haggard face pinched with worry.

"Don't worry about me, brother. I'll be fine," I assured him. I felt at least as tired as he looked.

He looked me in the eyes. "If you feel like you're going to lose control, just leave, alright? I don't want you snapping and killing somebody for asking you a question," he warned gravely.

"I'll try," I said, my mouth twisting into a half smile, though internally I felt the severity of his concern.

Gia nodded and disappeared into the throng of students behind him.

I turned with a sigh and continued to homeroom, receiving a sharp look from Mr. Lee when I walked in.

"What happened to your arm?" he asked, sounding as though he thought I must have received the injury while defacing public property or robbing a bank.

"Dirt bike accident," I answered tersely.

"I suppose you'll ask to be excused from writing now too, right?" the teacher inquired dryly.

"I'm ambidextrous," I revealed as I strode to my desk.

He was silent after that.

Not long after that exchange, Kaiba walked through the door, early as usual. He paused when he reached his desk, his gaze sweeping the room and landing on me; surprise and curiosity flashed in his sapphire eyes. Then inevitably: "What happened to you?"

"I…crashed my dirt bike," I muttered. For whatever reason, it was harder to lie to him than it had been to the teacher.

His eyes bored into mine, and I fought the urge to look away. His gaze told me that he knew that I was lying; mine said that I knew that he knew, and that I had no intentions of divulging the truth.

Kaiba looked away as he sat down. "Maybe you can elaborate later," he said, making the suggestion sound like a command.

"Maybe," I growled.

It was quiet until the rest of the class started trickling in, chatting with their friends and occasionally throwing me curious glances as they noticed the sling.

Tea and Yugi walked in together and noticed immediately, making a beeline for my seat.

"Er, I hope you don't mind my asking, but what happened to your arm?" Yugi asked carefully, sounding as though he were afraid of offending me.

"Yeah, you were fine Saturday," Tea expanded, her brow furrowed with concern.

"I crashed-" I began, feeling a bit guilty at the lie I was about to tell.

"Gerilynn! What the heck happened?" Joey exclaimed as he rushed over, Tristan and Ryou in tow, the latter looking a bit sheepish at his friend's volume.

I closed my eyes against the noise for a moment, as though the action would muffle my ears. "I crashed my dirt bike yesterday and hurt my arm," I said slowly.

"Oh, man. That sucks," the other blonde said, sounding sympathetic.

"Definitely," Tristan agreed.

Tea seemed to buy the yarn as well, but Yugi didn't look as sure as his friends. I saw something flicker in his eyes and knew that I was being watched by more than one set. He seemed content to leave the topic alone for the moment, however.

Class started, and I found myself sinking into a state of mild misery. My arm throbbed every time I so much as twitched it, and my head was starting to pound. I was tired and growing more paranoid that someone would realize my weakness by the minute, and thus I fought hard to conceal my condition.

Mr. Lee seemed to be making it his mission to worsen my mood even further. Every other time he asked a question, he seemed to call my name.

Without fail, I answered his questions with textbook precision. That didn't lessen the amount it irritated me.

When the bell finally rang, I bolted from my seat, immediately regretting the action as it jarred my arm.

Ryou materialized from the sudden chaos of the escaping teenagers and lifted my textbooks and binder, ignoring my protests as he accompanied me to our next class. He laid them on my desk before going to his own seat.

"Thanks, but you didn't have to do that," I told him, stopping him halfway between my place and his.

He shrugged and replied, "What are friends for?"

I swallowed hard as I stepped aside and continued to my seat. It made me feel bad to know that he was helping me and I was lying to him.

I sat down carefully, mindful of my arm, and took my notebook from my bag. I listened to the teacher intently, trying to throw off my exhaustion, and started the assignment for the day. I didn't finish until just before the bell rang, largely due to the fact that I was wired, my body tensing at the smallest noises and the most innocent of gestures from those surrounding me.

This was a problem I had had several times before, and one that I had grown used to controlling. It had become very difficult for me to shake off battlefield stress after an event that had occurred during my time at the village.

A devastating betrayal had shaken me to my core, and the aftershocks of the incident had proven exceptionally…disturbing. I had become obsessed with a bitter quest for revenge, and it had almost proved to be my undoing. Always ready for a fight, I was constantly on edge.

I had nearly overcome the affliction, but after particularly stressful and/or drawn out battles I still found it hard to unwind.

I made it through chemistry and hustled off to lunch on my own, slipping out of the cafeteria and into the quiet courtyard where I had sought refuge last week.

I felt myself relax slightly as soon as I escaped the crowds and took a long breath to further calm down. I walked over to the tree-bench where I had sat before and settled there.

Of course, sitting out here also meant sharing my quietude with my employer and his prickly moods, but I figured that this alternative would definitely beat the noise inside.

Kaiba looked up when I joined him. "Why do you follow me like a lost puppy? Are you that desperate for my attention?" he posed disdainfully.

"Don't flatter yourself," I snapped. "I don't like brunettes. And I'm not following you. I just like it out here." I removed a book and a granola bar from my bag, my movement only slightly hindered by the inability to use my right arm.

"Funny; that's not the impression I got when you were drooling over me at my office last week." His voice was smug at having found an edge, but I could detect an undercurrent of agitation.

I fixed him with a steady glare. "Touché, I suppose, although I can assure you that I wasn't drooling. And I already explained my motive for said staring. What more do you want?"

I opened my book, balancing the small paperback precariously on one knee and studiously ignoring my neighbor. I lifted my granola bar, still encased in cellophane, to my mouth so that I could tear it open with my teeth. I could sense Kaiba watching me, and I could also sense his amusement.

"Why don't you just ask someone to help you with that?" he asked mockingly.

"Why don't you just offer?" I shot back. Then I ripped the plastic down the middle, accomplishing my goal, but at the cost of scattering crumbs over my lap.

I set the food aside and dusted myself off in dignified silence, once again ignoring the teenager to my right. Which would have been great, had I not also knocked my book to the ground. I sighed exasperatedly.

_Damn shade… _

I leaned down to reach for the paperback, but another hand snagged it before I could. I straightened and stared at Kaiba, surprised. "Can I have that back?" I asked.

He handed it to me wordlessly and returned his attention to his own leather-bound volume.

My eyes flashed from the book in my hand to his face and back again, confused. _Okay, then… Mood swing much?_

The rest of the lunch hour passed in relative silence, and when the bell rang I wandered off in the direction of the gym.

About halfway there I realized that the urge to kill everyone in sight had disappeared almost entirely. I was much more relaxed than I had been this morning, and I wondered at the cause of my sudden calm.

_Nice change, but I have no idea how I did it… Are trees really that relaxing...? No, not really. Ah, whatever. Never look a gift horse in the mouth, I suppose._

"Unless you intend to skip class, you're going the wrong way." A familiar derisive voice interrupted my musings.

"Huh?" I looked around, finding that I had just passed the turnoff for the athletics department. "Oh… Uh, thanks, I guess…" I muttered at Kaiba, who had apparently followed me when I left the courtyard.

"Hmph." He swung by me and turned off into the boys' locker room.

I strode in to my own room, slightly embarrassed at my thoughtlessness.

Thankfully, time started playing tricks again. The class passed in what felt like five minutes, probably due to the fact that I had dozed off in the bleachers while everyone else did circuit training under the coach's direction.

My next few classes were fast as well, little of interest occurring. I was beginning to feel a pattern emerging. Sit down, listen to the teacher call role, take notes, feign interest, receive homework, and leave. Lather, rinse, repeat. It had been so long since I attended a "normal" school that I had forgotten how terribly repetitive the whole process was.

By the time the final bell rang, I stood, stretched carefully, and then hurried out the door. I almost walked past my brother, who had been waiting for me at the front entrance.

"What are you in such a hurry for?" Gia asked as he caught up to me.

"I've got a plan for my lesson later and I'm going to need time to get it ready," I answered distractedly.

"What kind of plan?" He sounded slightly suspicious.

I rolled my eyes. "Relax: I'm not going to hurt anyone." I climbed into the passenger side of his Escalade. "I'm probably going to need your help, though, so I hope you don't have anything to do," I added.

"I can help… How's your arm?"

"Painful. Annoying. Tiresome. Take your pick." Absently, I fiddled with the edge of the bandage.

"Figures… I'm sorry I couldn't finish healing it," Gia said quietly.

"It's not worth it anyway; I'll be good as new in a day or two," I quipped.

After collecting Shane, we headed for home. The boy's arrival added a new soundtrack to the atmosphere as he told us about his day.

Twenty minutes or so later, I was explaining my plans to Gia, and the more I elaborated, the more entertained his expression became.

"Good luck getting him to run it," Gia commented, shaking his head.

"Kaiba's not the only one who can be difficult. On that subject, he suspects that I'm lying about my arm," I said, watching my brothers gathering supplies from my workshop.

"Why?" he grunted as he hoisted a bundle of steel pipes onto his shoulder.

"Do I really look like I just crashed my motorcycle to you?" I fell into step beside Shane, who walked behind our elder, carrying a couple of metal tool boxes.

Gia was quiet for a moment. "I guess not, now that I think about it… Just make something else up if you have to."

"Maybe I'll tell him I got mauled by a lion while working my part-time job as a zookeeper," I pondered aloud, my voice wearily mischievous; Shane chuckled at my side.

"Do you want me to help you with this thing or not?" he growled, glaring at me over his shoulder, his lion's eyes flashing.

"Point taken: I'll be quiet now."

Gia grunted, muttering under his breath, and resumed walking.

_'Touchy…' _Shane's mind brushed my own, his words echoing in my thoughts.

_'Aren't most cats?'_ A wry smile touched my lips, and I danced out of the way of my older brother's swipe.

A/N:

Obviously I've had some issues posting this. First I decided to rewrite the whole thing because I felt that the original had problems, and then I got a virus on my computer. Which consequently destroyed the revised version of this chapter. Major eye twitch here.

As you can see, my computer troubles have been solved and I am back on track. Please enjoy and R&R. Happy Valentine's Day.


	17. Chapter 16

Chapter 16:

_The two worst strategic mistakes to make are acting prematurely and letting an opportunity slip; to avoid this, the warrior treats each situation as if it were unique and never resorts to formulae, recipes or other people's opinions. _

_Paulo Coelho _

An hour later, Shane led our "students" out the back door, chatting happily with Mokuba. They were already wearing gym clothes.

We had changed quickly after finishing my project, and Gia and I stood on either side of the path that led to the clearing in shorts and t-shirts.

"Welcome back," Gia greeted them.

"Thanks," Mokuba answered brightly; his brother merely nodded.

"We'll go our separate ways once we get to the clearing from before," Gia informed, turning to lead the way.

Surreptitiously, I glanced over at Kaiba. He wore blue shorts and a white shirt and looked uncomfortable and irritable.

I frowned, returning my gaze to the trees ahead of me. _This should be interesting…_

When we reached the large open area that we had met in before, Gia stopped. "Shane and Mokuba are with me today. Kaiba, my sister will show you where you two will be working for the day." He waved cheerily at me. "Have fun."

I let the air huff out of my nose at his antics, then turned and addressed my charge. "Come on."

Kaiba followed me silently. He hadn't said a word since he arrived, and his aura was agitated, prickly as a thorn bush.

We were walking a narrower path, moving deeper into the forest. A short while later we reached our destination, emerging from the trees into a grassy field enclosed by a split-rail fence. The expansive space was occupied by a large obstacle course. It consisted of several basic barriers, including stepping stones, dodging panels, a rope to climb, and an apex ladder.

"Are you serious? I thought you were teaching me to fight," Kaiba said angrily.

"I told you we were working on agility today, did I not? There are numerous benefits in running this course, and all of them will help you in the long term," I returned, hefting the stopwatch that hung around my neck.

"There are also numerous benefits in open heart surgery, but you don't see people lining up to have it done," he snapped back.

I smirked. "You're not going to tell me that you're afraid of my little obstacle course, are you? Because, honestly, that would be a bit pathetic," I goaded.

"Don't be ridiculous," Kaiba retorted disdainfully. "This is a waste of time."

I changed tactics then. "Alright; I'll tell you what. If you can beat two minutes, I'll let you run next class. You can tell me what to do. That ought to appeal to your ego, anyway," I offered.

"You're trying to manipulate me," he observed dispassionately, making eye contact with me for the first time that day.

I crossed my arms, tilting my head to one side. "Is it working?"

"No," he answered flatly. Then his expression changed, becoming distantly calculating. "How about_ I_ make _you_ a deal?"

"Go on," I said warily.

"If I run this obstacle course of yours, you have to tell me what happened to your arm," Kaiba offered, his cobalt gaze piercing my earthy one.

I narrowed my eyes, but didn't look away. "I already told you that," I said flatly.

"You lied," he determined bluntly, crossing his own arms.

"What makes you say that?" I queried, injecting a note of righteous anger into my tone.

"Spare me the theatrics," Kaiba snapped, scowling, his eyes boring into mine. "Any idiot could see that you haven't been in any type of motorcycle accident. You don't walk out of a crash with _one_ injury; it just doesn't happen. Tell me what really happened, and then I'll do whatever ridiculous exercise you have planned."

I pinched the bridge of my nose with my left hand, closing my eyes. "Why does it matter?" I asked exasperatedly. I was visited by a strangely powerful desire to simply tell him the truth.

"I don't like being lied to." The way he said it somehow made me feel like a child caught with her hand in the cookie jar; the notion unsettled me and I didn't like it.

"I'll offer you a compromise: if you beat two minutes on the course, I'll tell you how I hurt my arm. Take it or leave it," I said slowly, my mind racing. I obviously couldn't tell him the whole truth, but I figured I would get away with a watered-down version. _He wouldn't believe what really happened even if I did explain._

He was silent for a moment, considering. Then: "The truth?"

"You have my word," I confirmed solemnly.

"Deal," he agreed.

"I suggest you stretch first, unless you're fond of crutches." _I never thought I'd see the day that I'm glad he thinks he's God, but I guess I've been wrong before._

He warmed up some, doing a few runners' stretches, and then asked, "Where should I begin?"

"The starting line is in front of the wall there," I directed.

The tall teen stalked over to the aforementioned line, his face defiant and determined.

"Impress me," I said calmly, tapping the button on the stopwatch.

He took off like a shot, vaulting the low wall quickly and efficiently and rushing the stepping stones, which were the next impediment.

_He's faster than I thought he'd be. Runs really smooth, too... I wonder how fast his mile is. God, imagine his face if I told him we were running a 5k or something. It's actually a tempting idea… __Especially considering that he's going out of his way to be difficult._

I shook my head to dislodge the random thoughts and stopped the count as Kaiba sprinted across the finish line.

"Time?" he gasped, obviously trying not to look out of breath and failing miserably.

I lifted the watch for him to see. "2:56; you're going to have to do better than that. Not that it's a bad first run. I'll admit you did better than I expected." I leaned back against a fence post. "Do it again, but this time, don't hesitate when you get to things like the bridge. Your body will naturally stay balanced on its own if you keep moving," I advised.

Kaiba glared and growled, "I don't need your help." Then he returned to the starting line.

"Hey, I'm just your teacher: what do I know?" I called after him sarcastically.

"Just start the timer already," he answered moodily.

"Go," I said, watching him sprint forward and haul himself over the wall. "Fool," I added under my breath.

Seven runs later, he had knocked about twenty seconds off his time, although it certainly wasn't due to his listening to my advice; he had fallen off the balance bridge twice. In my opinion, he had managed the improvement through pure stubbornness.

The young CEO approached me once again, sweaty, red-faced, and panting.

"2:39." I informed him. "I'm actually disappointed. You could improve so much more if you would just listen to me." I met his agitated gaze steadily as I spoke, letting my own frustration show.

"Let's see you do better then," Kaiba retaliated, massaging his side.

I cocked my head to one side speculatively for a moment, and then jerked the lanyard from around my neck and threw it at him, striding over to the starting line and glancing back at him. "Challenge accepted."

He stared at me for a moment, surprised. Then he narrowed his eyes and settled the timepiece in his palm. "Impress me," the blue-eyed teenager mocked. The soft 'click' of the watch resonated in the still air.

I bounded forward, closing with the wall in a breath and grabbing the top with my left hand to swing myself over. Navigating the stepping stones with the agility of a mountain goat, I pounded forward, flinging myself over and under a stretch of tabletops and bars. I slalomed through the dodging panels and took a running leap at the rope, latching on about half way up and hauling myself the last few feet before dropping to the ground. A jump to clear the ditch, a quick run across the narrow plank of the bridge, a dash up one side of the ladder and a bound to clear the other and I was through, trotting over to my companion.

Kaiba was looking from me to the watch in his hand, his face inscrutable. "You did that in a minute and forty seconds," he said. His outward emotion was disgust, but I thought I could discern a slightly impressed note in his voice and eyes.

I closed my own eyes as I reached him, laying my left hand on my right bicep and taking a slow breath to master the burn in my arm. "I never ask anything of my students that I can't accomplish myself." I stretched a hand out. "Let me have the watch and go try again."

He dropped the small object on my hand and silently returned to the beginning of the course.

"Go for it," I said.

I alternated between watching Kaiba blasting through the course and the seconds ticking away in my palm. Somewhat to my surprise, I found that I was tense, excited; at the rate he was moving, he might just make it. _Since when am I on his side? _

I stopped the clock the instant he crossed the finish line.

Kaiba sauntered over, breathing hard and holding one side. "Well?"

I was staring down at the little screen, laughing bemusedly despite myself.

"You've got nerve, I'll give you that," I commented, smiling slightly.

"What?" He stepped closer, looking at the stopwatch in my hand.

I tilted my hand, displaying the clock-face for him to see. It read 1:59.99.

"I beat the time, though," the other teenager pointed out.

"That you did," I agreed, my mood becoming serious. I heaved a sigh. "I got knifed in the arm during a fight on Sunday. Satisfied?"

"Fractionally," Kaiba said. "Why were you fighting on Sunday?"

Major roll of the eyes here. "Oh gee, you caught me; I'm an undercover secret agent who fights crime on her off days. Come on, why do you think I was fighting? Some idiot pissed me off. End of story." I practically oozed sarcasm.

"Just make sure your 'crime-fighting' tendencies don't get you arrested. I don't need any bad publicity right now, got it?" His tone was commanding and cold, his eyes like chips of ice that stabbed into mine.

I was suddenly aware of how close to me he was, and fought the urge to back away. Some part of me noted that he was more intimidating up close; his proximity made it obvious that he was slightly taller than I was, although I wasn't entirely sure that his height was the only factor making me nervous. The thought made me angry with myself.

Volatile temper flaring, I straightened to my full height, nose to nose with the brunette. "You act like you expected me to be mixed up in something illegal. Why did you hire me in the first place if you think I'm some kind of delinquent?" I retorted.

"I don't have to explain myself to you," Kaiba growled back.

Silence so tense you could cut it with a knife fell as we stood glaring at each other, neither willing to back down.

"Hey, Sis, can we use the… Uh…What are you doing?"

Both our heads whipped around to see our respective brothers emerging from the trees. Shane was at the forefront of the trio, and it was he who had spoken. All three looked somewhat confused by the scene they were presented with.

Automatically, I took a step backwards, away from my employer. "Arguing," I provided.

"Okay then… Like I said, try not to kill each other," Gia said, stroking his chin thoughtfully.

"We came to see if we could use the obstacle course," Shane put in.

"Yeah, it sounds like fun," Mokuba added.

"Yeah, we're done here anyway," I answered. I started towards the path behind them, pausing for a moment to throw a dark look over my shoulder at Kaiba. "Come on, Twinkle Toes; we've got some things to discuss," I called. And then I kept walking.

"Call me that again and I _will_ fire you," he hissed angrily as he caught up.

I muttered a few choice curses under my breath but otherwise held my tongue. I didn't think Gia would be happy with me if I got myself fired. When we reached the clearing, I strode over to a low trestle table and turned to face my counterpart, my expression carefully neutral.

Emotions once more under control, I spoke slowly, thinking over each word before I said it. "I'm going to be perfectly honest with you. If you don't intend to listen to me anymore today, then we may as well just go back to the house and get changed, because, personally, I'm not overly fond of talking as it is, and I'm not going to waste my time and energy lecturing unless I know I'm accomplishing something. So tell me, are you going to listen if I try to teach you something?"

"Assuming you're actually going to teach me something, I suppose I'll pay some attention." Kaiba's face was equally impassive.

I nodded and cleared my throat. "Good; now, as you may have guessed, while the obstacle course _is_ a very good way to exercise and increase agility, its main purpose today was to show me your current 'level' if you will. The sparring last week was good, but I prefer other methods of testing skill. You actually did impress me, in case you're wondering. Many people don't even break _three_ minutes on their first few passes." I stopped talking for a beat, grabbing a couple bottles of water off the table. I tossed him one and took a swig from the other.

"Moving on, there are obviously many styles of fighting. The two that matter to us right now are the simple, straightforward approach that our brothers prefer and the strategically driven methods that we use. For example, if Shane wanted to hurt someone for whatever reason, his most likely course of action would be to walk up to that person and break his nose; straightforward and somewhat crude, but effective nonetheless. If I really wanted to hurt someone," I paused, thinking carefully. "My first priority would be to ensure that if I was going to get in a fight with whoever it was, I would have the upper hand. I would find my adversary's weakness and exploit it to whatever extent necessary. I.E.: if I knew my opponent had broken her ribs, they would be my first target." I gave my listener a pointed stare here.

"So your ribs _were_ broken?" Kaiba asked, unashamed.

"To make the concept comparable to ideas that you are more familiar with, you can kind of think of any fight as a distorted duel." I pressed forward. "Personally, I don't hold with settling disputes with cards instead of fists as do you and your ilk, but that's just me. The point I'm trying to make remains the same. What separates us from the rest is our choice to rely on this as much as we rely on our strength." I tapped myself on the temple as I spoke.

"You're stating the obvious," he commented irritably.

"Sometimes the obvious needs to be stated. I know that I mentioned scenarios last week, but I don't think I'm going to bother with many, if any, today. Instead, I want to do a little sparring. Let's see if I can prove you wrong and 'actually teach you something'." Downing the last of my water, I moved to the one side of the canvas square that was still spread in the middle of the clearing.

Kaiba situated himself opposite me, looking haughty.

"We're going to do this a bit differently than before. I want you to attack me this time. And just so you know, if you hit my bad arm intentionally, I'll knock you out. Understand?" I explained flatly.

"Hmph." He thought for a moment and then started forward, striking at my left temple.

I simply stepped out of the way, grabbing his shoulder and shoving him to the ground easily. "Tsk, tsk, Kaiba; I expected something less predictable. Get up and try again."

Growling, he got to his feet and dusted himself off. Then he attacked again, attempting to sneak around my bad side and get behind me.

Smoothly dropping to one knee, I extended my right leg straight backwards, knocking his left foot out from under him and causing him to lose his balance. Rising fluidly and turning to face him, I poked him in the chest with a hand spear and sent him sprawling for the second time.

"Better, but there are far easier ways to take down an opponent; again, and this time, think through your actions carefully."

Once more, Kaiba returned to his feet. He didn't move for a good couple of minutes, apparently considering his options. A smirk gradually spread across his face as he contemplated. His muscles flexed and he rolled his shoulders, staring at the ground. Then he looked up and smiled at me.

I felt like I had been sucker-punched, the wind knocked out of me by an invisible giant's hand. The simple expression transformed his features, making his face seem uncharacteristically open and, if not innocent, then boyish. Contrasting this impression were his eyes, their sapphire depths inviting me to lose myself within their darkness. He was, in that brief instant, the most attractive being I had ever encountered.

An instant later, I was aware that I was on the ground, Kaiba standing over me, the smile replaced by a smug smirk. "Better?" he drawled mockingly.

My face heated as I rolled to my feet, embarrassed at my lapse of control and the weakness it had revealed to him. Mastering myself, I said, "Yes, actually. As annoying as I might find your method, you are starting to understand what I'm trying to show you."

Dropping into a crouch, I let my face go blank again. "Shall we see if you can apply the same principles to defense?"

Without waiting for an answer, I sprang at him, catching him around the torso in a flying tackle and slamming him to the ground. The breath whooshed out of his lungs with an audible _oof_, and I balanced myself catlike on his chest, staring him down.

"However, if I hear so much as a word about this, you'll pay more than my salary. Do I make myself clear?" My tone was low and deadly, and my eyes bored into his with all the intensity of a predator's into those of her prey.

Kaiba grunted, possibly the only sound he could manage with my hundred and thirty odd pounds perched on his chest.

"Good. I'm glad we understand one another." I released him, levering myself off using my arm so that I wouldn't break his ribs; he rolled away wheezing.

"You could have just asked," the CEO growled as he got to his feet.

"Would you have listened?" I asked, raising my eyebrows.

"Maybe. Depends how you asked."

"In other words, no," I said. "Moving on, this kind of strategy is what I'm talking about. Though I doubt it would have much affect against any other serious opponent. An assassin, female or no, doesn't just get distracted by her target's… looks."

"Just you, then ," he pointed out smugly, smirking.

"It won't work a second time, I promise you that." My eyes narrowed as I spoke.

"Whatever. What are we doing now?" He crossed his arms impatiently.

"Honestly, I think I'm done for the day. I've made my point," I answered, starting toward the path back. "I'm going back to the house. You coming?"

His footsteps followed until our paths diverged in the house.

A few minutes later, I had changed and ditched my sling, cautiously stretching my arm. Satisfied that I would manage to survive a few hours of doing nothing, I proceeded to work, my mind going into auto-pilot.

My thoughts were slightly muddled by exhaustion. I kept clenching and unclenching my left hand, trying to stay awake. When the action started to lose potency, I dug my nails into my palm, the sharp twinge jolting me enough to stay alert.

Absorbed as I was in my dilemma, I almost didn't register the flash of movement in front of me.

"Where you going?" I questioned sharply.

Kaiba was halfway to the door. He glanced back at me irritably. "For a walk."

"Because that worked out so well last time," I responded, pursuing him as he took off through the door.

"Hmph."

The teen wandered the streets much as he had the last time, seeming deep in thought, to the point where I was fairly certain he had no idea where he was going, only that he was going. I didn't really mind; it was easier to stay awake when I had some physical exertion to keep me occupied.

Some time later, he seemed to come out of his daze, his strides gaining purpose and lengthening. Surprising me, he stepped into a small all-night coffee shop. I followed, standing back a bit and taking the place in while he ordered. We were the only ones there, excepting the lady behind the counter.

The smell of the caffeine woke me up a bit, and I was suddenly aware that my mouth was uncomfortably dry.

"You mind if I get something?" I asked as he waited for his drink.

Kaiba studied me for a moment and then shrugged noncommittally.

I took that as a no, and once he had paid I ordered an iced coffee, tossing a couple bills on the counter carelessly. The combination of sugar and caffeine kicked my brain back into full awareness.

We stepped onto the street once more, and I wondered vaguely where he was headed. His path seemed random again. A few moments later, he stopped, taking a seat at a bench in front of a small park. I remained standing, training taking over in my uncertainty of the situation; a guard sits only when commanded, because the position slows reaction times.

A soft breeze blew, the swings swaying back and forth. The place had a quietly lonely feel to it, its excitable daytime occupants long departed. Something about it made me feel like I was intruding on some hard working being's well-deserved rest.

"Why this particular bench?" I asked quietly, afraid to disturb the night.

Kaiba glanced over at me as though he'd forgotten I was there. "Because I felt like it," he answered, a strange, faint note of defensiveness in his tone.

"Just wondered," I said. I finished my drink, tossing the empty container in a nearby can.

"...You can sit down if you want," Kaiba muttered a moment later.

I looked at him sharply, slightly surprised by his offer. He didn't seem to care either way. Taking one last look around to ensure that there was nothing threatening in the area, I settled at the other end of the bench, leaving as much distance between us as possible. Absently, I cradled my right arm with my left, lightly rubbing my bicep in an attempt to alleviate the ache.

"Have you seen a doctor about that?" my companion inquired suddenly, once again catching me by surprise.

I stared at him; he stared back impassively. "Why?"

Something flashed behind his mask for a second. "Because it obviously hurts."

I snorted softly. "Not for long; I heal fast. Doctors would just complicate things."

Kaiba nodded and turned away once more as though my words made perfect sense. He didn't speak again, and the quiet stretched on unbroken for a time as he sipped his drink.

The empty cup thudded hollowly in the trash-can as he stood and took off again. Moving quickly, I caught up, lengthening my stride to match his. I wasn't terribly familiar with the city, but I was fairly certain that we were headed back to his office.

I froze as we passed by the mouth of a shadowy alleyway. The sharp, acrid tang of fear wafted from the side-street. A scream suddenly rent the night, and I jerked slightly, torn between duty and my hero-complex.

"What are you doing?" Kaiba demanded sharply, taking a few steps back toward me.

I didn't answer, the invisible struggle locking me up. Then the scream came again, and I took off down the alley. "Stay put," I called back to him. I could imagine the look of outrage on his face, but frankly, I didn't care. Following the scent-taste of epinephrine in the air, I swung around a sharp corner, into an alcove of some kind.

A hulking man was advancing on a cornered female, obviously having chased her for some time. A knife glinted in his hand.

"Help!" she shouted as she saw my silhouette behind the man.

He started to turn, but I was already moving. My fist caught his temple, and before he could even cry out he crumpled to the ground. The woman stared in shock, apparently speechless.

I saluted briefly, gave the thug one last kick, and spun to take off back the way I had come. My journey came to an abrupt halt when I slammed into Kaiba, who had apparently decided to catch up with me.

"What the hell was that?" he questioned, his tone angry and slightly outraged.

"Me being a good person. Let's go; I don't want to answer questions." I walked off, arm throbbing after the jolt of walking into him.

"You can't just do things like that. Who do you think you are, Batman?" Kaiba growled as he took the lead again.

"I'm a girl; how could I be Batman?"

"Don't be an idiot. You know what I mean."

"Well, Kaiba, if I have the power to stop something wrong from happening, why wouldn't I use it?" I posed quietly.

"Because it's not your problem," he returned.

"You can't tell me you honestly believe that." My voice was skeptical.

He didn't answer, and something told me that it was as close as he would get to admitting that he did care.

We walked in silence, a silence that continued after we had slipped back into the office. When he finally packed up his briefcase, it was quarter to two. I followed him to the front of the building, where we usually parted ways. I headed off to my car as soon as I saw Roland and the limo show up.

"Hey," Kaiba called, and I halted, looking back at him curiously. "...Well done."

A tired smile curved the corners of my mouth. "Thanks."

A/N:

Definitely open to suggestions on this one; it didn't come out exactly as I had envisioned it. But it's here. R&R

Edit 4/27/12:

Hey. I haven't been on in a very long time, due to a crazy robotics season. Things have eased up a bit now, and as I have been promoted, I can afford to kick back a bit. So with luck, I'll be updating more frequently.

It has come to my attention that my work has been slightly lacking, probably because I was actually near delirium with exhaustion myself when I found time to work on this. I reworked the end of this chapter, and I think it better suits the character I am trying to build. Let me know about in character-ness for all of the Yu-Gi-Oh! characters- especially Kaiba. I'm really trying, and I hope I'm succeeding to some degree… So… Yeah…

Sorry this A/N is so long… Feedback is greatly appreciated! Enjoy.


	18. Chapter 17

Chapter 17:

_Help unlooked for is oft the best kind._

I woke the next morning to the harsh discord of my alarm, rolling out of bed with a groan. My arm still ached, but the wound itself looked like it was weeks old instead of days.

Kaiba appeared exceptionally tired when I noticed him saunter into homeroom; understandable, to say the least.

I hid behind my book when Yugi walked in with his friends. My mood wasn't necessarily bad, but I didn't feel like chatting. Thankfully, they didn't bother me today, outside friendly waves and smiles.

Then the bell rang, signaling Mr. Lee to call the class to order, and I focused my attention on other matters.

The school day was progressing quickly, and soon I was standing by the track outside the school, listening to the gym coach try to explain relay races to the wise-cracking freshmen in the class.

Considering that my knowledge considering relay races was more than adequate, I didn't bother paying attention, merely nodding occasionally as the portly little woman all but spelled the concept out to the idiots. All of us, excluding the "teacher", were perfectly aware that the boys knew exactly what she was talking about.

I was staring off towards the bleachers when a breath of wind wafted a peculiar, extremely out-of-place scent directly into my nostrils. Stiffening, I carefully examined the shadows under the platform, searching for the source of the odor; the electric, yet subtle aroma of magic. My eyes locked on the space directly under the last section of seats, a cold fire starting in the pit of my stomach, fed by anger, uncertainty, and dread.

A pair of maroon eyes and a sadistic smile appeared in the darkness for a second, before fading and disappearing all together.

I stepped forward, thrusting my hand in the air as I walked up to the coach. "I need to use the restroom, please," I said in a low tone as she turned to face me.

Her weathered face became rather exasperated. "Is it-"

"Yes, yes, yes: it's an emergency." I was impatient and tense, and I didn't care about the people who could hear my words.

She fumbled with the karabiner that held the key to the locker room onto her lanyard, handing it to me. "Here: hurry up," she commanded gruffly.

I was moving before she finished her last syllable, ignoring the snickers around me. It took everything in my power not to sprint away from them in search of the being that had appeared so briefly in the shade.

Safely hidden from view by the bleachers, I sniffed around, picking up the trail easily and following it around one side of the school, mostly hugging the shadows cast by the building and the landscaping. My quarry had made no attempt at all to hide his scent; indeed, it grew more defined as I progressed along the path.

I rounded a corner of the main building, finding myself in a small, rather unkempt garden area that was the pet project of one of the school clubs; a plot of land in need of weeding was planted with rows of vegetables in front of a utility shed. I stopped short when I saw the figure leaning against an aluminum wall, tucked into the pool of darkness caused by its shadow.

"Foxfire," I said, the anger evident in my tone contradicting my wary body-language.

The tall man straightened, a cunning glint in his eye. "Fledgling," he acknowledged, his voice a low purr.

He stood approximately six nine, with a slim build and a striking angular face that could have been described as feline. Shaggy, jet-black hair hung down to his shoulders. His eyes shifted color constantly. He wore a black cuirass and leggings under his pitch-colored cape, and a short sword hung at his side from a leather belt, next to a dagger and drawstring bag.

"How did you get here?" I growled hostilely.

"I may have enlisted a little help from your dear cousin..." Foxfire drawled, the cunning smirk never leaving his face.

"What did you do to Kell?" I demanded, stepping forward with my hands held at the ready in front of me.

Foxfire rolled his eyes dramatically, the smirk becoming slightly sadistic. "He'll be fine... Once I remove the binding enchantment I placed on him."

I growled menacingly, moving nearer. "You _will_ free him."

"Probably," he purred. "It's just so much fun to abuse the man; especially when you consider his parentage."

"Kell is nothing like his parents. If he was, you two would get along better," I spat contemptuously.

The man clapped his hands together, laughing delightedly before sobering somewhat. "As much as I enjoy baiting you, I'm afraid that my visit here actually does have a purpose." Almost absently, his hands drew his dagger and he began playing with it.

"What do you want?" My voice was far from friendly, but I backed off slightly.

"I come with a warning. Your little adventure over the weekend was far from unnoticed. Brekkin is... upset, to put it mildly. You killed his lieutenant alongside managing to slip through his grasp once again. He is hunting even as we speak." Foxfire's eyes were twin thunder-clouds, swirling black and gray.

"Hunting...us?" I questioned, my stomach shifting uneasily.

"What else?" The man leaned close to me, tapping the tip of my nose with his blade; I flinched slightly but refused to retreat any further. "There is quite a price on your head, Fledgling. Brekkin is offering extravagant rewards to anyone who brings any of the three of you to him, not that he expects such a plan to succeed."

I processed the information quickly. "Does he know-"

"Where you are? I do not think so; not yet anyway. But be sure that he is searching. I hope you hide the energy signatures that your portals leave behind better than you conceal your own: otherwise, you may be in for a family reunion." Tapping my nose once more, he leaned away.

"As thoughtful of you as it is to be telling me this, I had already guessed at most of it. Anyone who's ever even heard of Brekkin would be able to surmise as much. Something tells me you didn't come all this way just to tell us that our uncle hates our guts." I watched the spirit-man's expression closely, trying to read his true motive.

Foxfire's eyes changed again, his irises turning a watery shade of blue. "You speak the truth. Though I may have on previous occasions, I did not bind dear Kell simply for my own amusement. His father has taken an interest in him, although Kell himself does not know it yet. You know how the boy is: he does as he pleases without the slightest thought about consequences. His habits are going to get him captured. Brekkin is madder than a rabid dog, but he is a hundred times as cunning. He knows how valuable his son would be to him as a servant."

I let that sink in. "Will you look after him?" I didn't like asking the unpredictable rogue for help, but I knew that if he agreed, no one would be able to so much as speak my cousin's name without Foxfire knowing about it and stalking them.

He tilted his head to the side slightly, his expression mockingly thoughtful. "Do I look like a babysitter to you, Fledgling? I've already done you one favor by warning you, and I'm about to do you a second," he intoned, pulling the pouch from his belt and tossing it to me.

I caught it deftly, surprised at its weight. Tugging at the drawstrings, I opened it. The sight that awaited me was almost enough to make me laugh.

A three inch tall man with silvery gray hair was stumbling around with a dazed expression, shaking his head and glaring up at the opening. His expression changed abruptly when he saw my face, and he started talking excitedly, his voice a considerably higher pitch than usual.

"That moronic spirit-walker ambushed me! He made me open a channel and then the ungrateful bastard locked me in here! Get me out! It smells like cow sh-"

I pulled the drawstrings hastily, cutting off the torrent. Fighting a grin, I looked up at Foxfire; he made no attempt to conceal his amusement.

"This is your favor? You brought me a midget in a bag?" I asked, forgetting to be angry at his rule-breaking effrontery.

"Now his body is proportionate to his brain. I'll have you know that when I 'ambushed' him, he was more than half drunk," Foxfire sneered, his lip curling in disgust.

I sighed, the anger reigniting. "I'd like to say that it surprises me, but... Do I even want to know where you found him?"

He smirked in the way that meant he had found a way to make me angry. "He was enjoying the company of a number of fine looking ladies. It wasn't very difficult at all to 'sneak up on him', what with-"

"Okay! I get the picture." I glared at the leather in my hand, then glanced at my watch. I had been gone for eight minutes. "I have to go. You interrupted my schooling."

The smirk widened. "Oh, right; I forgot. You looked absolutely captivated by that troll's teachings. A wonder you noticed my presence at all." His sarcasm didn't go unnoticed.

"She's not a troll..." I grumbled.

Foxfire twisted the dagger in his hands. "Odd: her aura smells deliciously troll-like..." He trailed off, his eyes turning an alarming shade of red.

I stepped forward, on red-alert once more. "You will not feed here. They are innocents, do you hear me?"

His eyes were rather distant as he stared off in the direction of the track. "There was magic there, magic other than your own. The tall cold one and the one with the ridiculous hair... Their auras were strong. It was ancient stuff, too...exactly to my liking..." The dagger made a sudden jerking motion, as though to cut a throat and he stepped forward a few feet.

I snarled, pulling my power to the front of my mind and planting myself squarely in front of him. "I said, _you_ _will not feed here_."

Foxfire's arm reached out, moving to brush me aside as he continued on his path.

I grabbed his wrist, twisting his arm around behind his back and slamming him against the side of the building behind me, free hand latching on to the back of his neck. "Enough. I'm escorting you back to your world." My voice was empty, emotionless; it was a warning sign to anyone who knew me.

The spirit-walker growled long and low as his power built, waves of crackling black energy radiating from his core.

I felt my own power rise, electricity dancing just beneath the surface of my skin; sparks spat from my finger tips and the pendant around my neck flared silver.

A silent contest of strength began, muscles flexing and magical energy swirling around us in a cacophony of color. Then, without warning, everything stopped.

"What's going on here?"

Our heads snapped around as one, our eyes coming to rest on my brother, standing several feet away with a stern expression on his face.

"I came to deliver you ungrateful brats a message and your insufferable sister attacked me," Foxfire complained, trying to throw me off.

"I only attacked you because you were going to hurt those people," I snarled back, tightening my grip to keep him still.

Gia sighed wearily. "Let him go Gerilynn. And if you pull any of your nonsense, Foxfire, _I'll_ be the one attacking you," he ordered.

Reluctantly, I released my hold on the man; he immediately stepped away from the wall, moving toward a deeper pool of shadow.

"Now that that's settled, what message did you have for us?" Gia asked.

"Only that, aside from putting a bounty on you three, Brekkin has now taken an interest in his son. I brought Kell to you; you should be thanking me," Foxfire answered tersely, his eyes shifting to a burnt orange.

"You brought Kell to us?" my brother responded sharply, glancing around.

"I gave him to the fledgling."

Gia turned to me, a puzzled expression on his face.

Despite myself, I smirked as I proffered the leather pouch.

"Oh no... Tell me you didn't." Gia massaged his temples tiredly.

Foxfire grinned. "I did."

"Here." I tossed the bag to my brother. "And as refreshing as I found this little party, I really need to get back to class; my teacher's going to think I died or something." Turning, I started back to the track.

"Good luck with the troll, Fledgling," the spirit-walker called after me.

"Gee, thanks," I muttered under my breath as I turned the corner.

Ensconced in my desk in history, I stared blankly at the board, taking notes mechanically. My thoughts were a million miles away.

Foxfire's appearance was unexpected and all the more unsettling for it. He was a spirit-walker, one who has the ability to send his spirit out of his body; they fed on the auras of others, in order to replenish their power. This meant that they could travel huge distances almost instantaneously, spy on people without being noticed, and the more powerful ones were said to be able to contact the dead. There were very few of them left in the worlds, and Foxfire was by far the oldest of them all; he had known my grandfather.

In fact, it was through a complicated series of events involving a promise to my grandfather that the spirit-walker knew us at all. According to my brothers, Foxfire was actually my god-father. It wasn't very frequently that he deigned to contact us, though, and that he had gone to the trouble of capturing my cousin in order to get here meant that he had seen or heard something serious indeed.

My cousin himself presented an interesting problem. Despite the fact that Kell was exceptionally talented as both shinobi and warrior, he only chose to use his abilities when he had to. He had a tendency to spend most of his time drinking away the money he earned from the missions that he did take. I knew that he was a good man, but I didn't understand entirely why he had to waste his life like he did. He was what the modern worlds rather cruelly dub a "mistake child"; Brekkin would never knowingly have had a kid. His mother had eventually left my uncle, albeit only after she and her son had suffered years of abuse from the man.

Despite all his faults, I genuinely liked Kell. He had a naturally charismatic personality when he was sober, and a sense of mischievous playfulness that made him a good companion. Living with him, though, was going to be interesting; he and Gia didn't always see eye-to-eye on things.

"Archer! Pay attention!" Lee was staring at me expectantly. "Care to answer the question?"

I swore to myself. "What question, sir?" My voice was blithely polite.

"Which Chinese dynasty conquered the people of the steppes, and under which emperor?"

Wearily I recited the answer, and class continued.

None too soon the final bell rang and I darted out of my pre-calculus class to meet my brother in the parking lot.

"Here," he said, shoving the leather bag into my hands. "I've explained the situation. Take him back to the house and get Foxfire to help you release him. We'll talk later."

"Fine."

He left, and I sighed. We had made a unanimous decision that Kell would be better off out of sight until we could get him back, so we had simply left the binding enchantment in place.

I climbed into my car, turning the key in the ignition. I didn't leave right away, though, curiosity getting the better of me as I stared at the bag in my hand. Trying to keep it as level as possible, I twisted it around, examining the material in an attempt to understand the mechanics of the spell.

"Ingenious, isn't it?"

My head hit the ceiling as I jumped, swearing irritably. A glance to my right revealed that Foxfire had filled the passenger seat, watching me with grey eyes.

"Was that necessary?" I grumbled, rubbing the top of my head and setting the pouch down beside me. The gears let out a satisfying thunk as I put the car in drive.

"Entirely. This is a very nice car; I haven't ridden in one since your father's day,"  
>the man remarked, studying the radio with interest.<p>

"Just don't touch anything," I warned, slapping his hand away from the controls.

"Irritable, aren't we?" He settled back in his seat, despite his words.

I grunted, focusing on the road instead.

Back at the house, I led the spirit-walker into my workshop.

"Do we need anything in particular to make this work?" I asked, proffering the pouch.

"Nothing but intelligence. And magic, of course," Foxfire answered, reaching for the bag. "I can handle it, if you don't mind."

"Maybe I'd like to try," I said, pulling it away from him. "Teach me how."

His eyes turned a brilliant shade of green. "Ever the scientist. Fine, but you had better let me sustain the spell; you will wind up catatonic from the energy loss, and then your dear brothers will be upset with me," he qualified, unruffled as ever.

"I guess I can live with that…"

Foxfire proceeded to instruct me in the wording of the spell, though he refused to answer any of my questions regarding the finer points of the magic.

"Don't forget the variation that will allow me to fuel the enchantment," he remarked.

Lungs expanding as I took a final breath, I nodded once and began speaking, words of an ancient tongue that didn't belong in this world ringing in the air. Silver light tinged with black around the edges obscured the leather, and a figure materialized next to it, gradually growing larger. When I finally stopped speaking my cousin stood before me.

Kell coughed and gave Foxfire a very dirty look. "You're an ass, you know that?"

The spirit-walker gave him a disdainful look, his eyes shifting to an oddly familiar shade of blue. "You owe me your freedom, Pup. Show some respect."

"You took it from me in the first place," Kell grumbled before looking over at me. "Hey cousin; how've you been?"

"Alright." I looked to Foxfire once again. "You okay?"

"Of course," he responded sharply, looking faintly offended. "Such magic is simple to one who has lived as long as I have, Fledgling."

"Right..." I led them into the main house. "Foxfire, do you intend to stay here for the night?"

"I'd rather not, but it would be wiser to open a portal when there are more of you present, so I suppose I have no choice." The blue gave way to a less unsettling shade of light brown.

I showed them to a couple of extra rooms and then glanced at my watch. It was quarter to five.

"You two play nice for a while, alright? I have to get ready for work." I gave the two a stern look. "Kell, don't let him feed on anything human, alright?"

"Yeah," my cousin agreed.

"As if he could stop me…" Foxfire muttered, yellow seeping into the brown.

"…Seriously. Stay away from the people here." Glaring at him for a second longer, I spun on my heel and headed to my room to change.

When I reemerged, Kell was raiding the refrigerator and Foxfire was nowhere to be seen. Cautiously, I headed to the garage, fully expecting the spirit-walker to pop out of nowhere. I was not to be disappointed.

I slipped into my car and jumped, hitting my head for the second time that day. The man was lounging in the back seat, reading a book of some kind; he looked up when he saw me, his eyes green once again.

"What the hell?" I exclaimed, massaging the top of my head and groaning when I smacked my bad elbow against the door frame.

"You know, hitting your head like that repeatedly isn't going to make it hurt any less."

"Get the hell out of my car," I growled.

"There is no Hell in your car, I assure you," he returned, looking back to his book.

"Foxfire. I have to go to work. Get out of my car." My tone was annoyed.

"You could have just said so," the spirit-walker reasoned, lithely climbing out of the car.

I bit my tongue. Some battles just aren't worth the effort.

A/N:

So it's been a while since I updated. I hope some of you are actually still reading this. In case nobody noticed, I reworked chapter 16, because it felt wrong. So if you've read this story before, you may want to reread it.

Please enjoy, and _please_ R&R.


	19. Chapter 18

Chapter 18:

_Know what's weird? Day by day, nothing seems to change. But pretty soon, everything's different._

_Bill Watterson_

The slanted rays of the setting sun refracted strangely against the glass wall of the office. The light highlighted every minute imperfection in the glass, making the tiny bubbles and irregular chips sparkle. The sheer range of color astounded me, every hue from red to violet appearing as the great orb sank. Gradually, the effect faded as the world continued its endless rotation.

_Never noticed that effect before… Man, I must be really bored._

I suppressed a yawn, my gaze sweeping the office. Kaiba was stationed at his desk as per usual; his relentless keystrokes the only unnatural sound in the room. Absently I flexed my arm, stretching the swiftly strengthening tendons.

Another quick scan of the room, and I turned back to the window. There had to be something more interesting to watch out there.

My lips curled into a vague smirk as I noted the man who had double-parked across the street getting a ticket; I could imagine the things he was shouting at the rather flustered-looking officer. Then I sighed. People were so stupid sometimes.

The thought brought my cousin to the forefront of my mind. I just hoped that Kell would be able to control his habits enough to keep Gia from going on a rampage. Following the associations that I couldn't help making, the next idea that popped into my mind was the problem of my uncle.

Foxfire's news did not bode well at all. A bounty on our heads meant that traveling would be ten times as difficult. I wondered how far Brekkin had been able to spread the message; with anything resembling luck, no one here knew of it. It wasn't that I was worried by any of the criminals here- I had toppled men far more powerful than any that could be found here with my left thumb.

No, the worrisome thing was that if anyone found out about us, they could contact my uncle with our location. We could control a few, but if the knowledge that we were the wanted ones spread too far or too fast, there would be little we could do to save ourselves.

Half-consciously, I pushed my fingers through my hair. Sometimes I envied people like the man getting the ticket; they were too simple to realize how easily they had it.

"Would you stop muttering to yourself? I'm trying to work here," Kaiba snapped suddenly, glaring at me.

I frowned, sheepishly scratching the back of my head. "Didn't realize I was doing it. Sorry."

"Hnph." He turned back to his work.

_Annoying…_

The light had faded by now, and, eager to see the stars, I glanced back out the window. I clamped a hand to my mouth to keep from swearing aloud; I couldn't help jerking slightly in surprise.

A rather shadowy version of Foxfire was waving mockingly from outside the window. The image seemed to be standing on thin air and had a translucent quality to it, indicating that it was his spirit I was seeing.

I threw a furtive glance over my shoulder as I sidled closer to the glass; either Kaiba hadn't noticed my actions, or he didn't care. I held out my hands, palms up in a sign of confusion.

_'I got bored. So I thought I'd have a look around.'_

Furiously, I threw a pointed look at the CEO behind me. _'You can't just wander around. Are you crazy?'_

Foxfire's eyes rolled, glowing an interesting shade of topaz. _'Don't be foolish, Fledgling. He can't see me.'_

_'Yeah, but _I _can. And you're distracting me. He already thinks I'm crazy; if he catches me talking to a window, he's liable to fire me.'_

_'If he already thinks you're crazy, what do you have to worry about? You're obviously still his guard dog.' _He smirked.

I stifled a growl, my lip curling slightly in a snarl. _'I'm nobody's guard dog.'_

The smirk grew wider. _'You certainly act like it; waiting patiently at your master's heels.'_

My fists clenched, and I bit my lip to keep from yelling at the spirit-walker. _'Screw off, you ass; I have no master, and even if I did, it would _definitely_ not be _him_.' _

Foxfire grinned smugly. _'Better be careful: looks like Master's a bit suspicious.'_

_'You better hope you get back to your body before I do, Fox!' _I exploded at him mentally, outwardly composed.

"What is with you? Is it too much to ask that you just stand there and shut up?" Kaiba growled, swiveling to look at me standing in the corner.

I growled myself. "You try it sometime and let me know how it works out for you."

"Watch your mouth. I'm in charge here, so you can show some respect if you want to keep your job," he ordered unyieldingly.

I pinched the bridge of my nose between my middle finger and my thumb, taking a breath to calm myself. "I will if you do, _sir_," I gritted out.

Kaiba's blue eyes flashed. "You don't have the authority to set conditions."

"I shouldn't have to," I spat, glaring. My hands dropped to my sides. "You treat my brothers and me like we're just some interns you can push around however you like, and yet you have the audacity to ask us to risk our lives for you. If that makes sense in your mind, you must be a lot more twisted than I thought."

The teenager stared at me for a long moment, his expression blankly unfathomable. Then he turned back to his work. "Just try to keep quiet."

I cocked my head, slightly puzzled; I had been ready for a fight. I hadn't anticipated his response at all.

_'Well, that wasn't so bad. Master must be feeling exceptionally lenient.' _

I fought the urge to groan. It was going to be a long night.

I dragged my feet as I stepped through the door. Kaiba had left reasonably early, by his standards anyway; it was only 11:00. Foxfire's relentless commentary, however, had made the shift feel ten times longer.

The spirit walker hadn't shut up, seeming determined to make me explode again. He didn't succeed again, despite his best efforts. And to make matters worse, my stomach had decided that I was hungry at about 9:30, offering a less-than-appealing soundtrack for the rest of the night.

I cursed tiredly as it growled again loudly.

_Traitor…_

Making it to the kitchen, I tugged open the fridge and reached in for a jar of jelly, intending on having a sandwich before bed. My hand made contact with empty space. Eyes widening, I did a double take.

The refrigerator was empty. A lone egg stared out at me forlornly from the top shelf, next to a wilted shred of lettuce.

Robotically, I closed the door and turned to the pantry. Aside from several cans of peas and carrots, it's only occupants were three boxes of bran flakes and a half-stale loaf of bread.

My eye twitched as I stared at the barren landscape. I fought the urge to fall to my knees and starve right there. Then my brain caught up with my stomach.

"Boys! Get your asses down here, _now_!"

Footsteps thundered across the floor, and three heads appeared in the doorway to the kitchen.

Setting aside the spirit-walker's conspicuous absence, I fixed them with a dangerously cool stare.

"Where is my food?" I asked calmly.

"Wh-what do you mean?" Gia asked, the stutter making his attempt at looking impressive pointless.

"I mean," I paused, opening the fridge and gesturing at the barren landscape within. "_Where is my food_?"

He shot a furious look at Kell, who appeared to be attempting to blend into the woodwork.

"You ate _all_ of it?" Gia demanded, looking mildly horrified.

"Well… I… Uh…" Kell stammered sheepishly.

"We were hungry, and you usually don't eat dinner, so we kind of just…kept…eating," Shane supplied reasonably, giving a winning smile.

I felt my eye twitch again. Pinching the bridge of my nose, I stepped forward, leaving the ice-box open behind me so that tendrils of cool air followed my approach.

"If I _ever_ come home to no food again… The consequences will be _severe_," I snarled softly, my composure never faltering once.

The statement was met by frantic nodding of sweating heads.

"Now, I am going to go find something to eat. You three focus on finding a way to make me a breakfast that doesn't involve bran flakes." With that, I strode out of the room, en route to the garage, muttering expletives to myself under my breath.

Reaching my car, I hesitated; it just didn't feel right. Usually, feelings like this were not to be ignored. Puzzling over my dilemma for a moment, a small smile spread over my face.

Blowing past the Camaro, I slipped into my shop and tore the dustcover off of my dirt-bike. It was outfitted for street-riding and had been my pet project for some time now.

Pausing a moment as I looked over the glossy black bike, I nodded absently to myself. Turning aside for a moment, I rummaged in one of the cupboards until I found a pair of jeans. I changed quickly, tossing my blazer onto a workbench and undoing the first two buttons on my dress shirt. I also rolled the cuffs back to my elbows. Pulling on a pair of simple, black combat boots, I picked up my helmet and rolled the bike out of the garage.

Minutes later, I was flying along the streets of downtown Domino searching for an all-night café or something similar. The place I had followed Kaiba to popped into my mind, and as I had no better ideas I worked my way back to the KaibaCorp building and started retracing my steps. About five minutes later, I cut the power and stared at the invitingly bright windows with some satisfaction.

Leaving my helmet on a handlebar and snagging the key, I entered the little shop, the prospect of a warm bagel and a caffeine fix lightening my mood considerably.

I strode directly to the counter, ordering quickly and in clipped tones, unreasonably eager for food.

Drawing a deeply contented breath as my drink was placed on the counter before me, I noticed something vaguely familiar in the air.

Frowning slightly, I took another breath as the woman turned away, carefully sifting through the various scents in the shop.

_It's like…cologne._ I decided. Probably expensive, judging by how well the scents were blended and how it set my nose to tingling. _It smells…good._

Covertly inhaling deeply again, I dropped a few bills on the counter, turned to choose a table, and froze.

My spirits plummeted as I took in the by-now familiar figure that the scent was emanating from, seated at the farthest corner table.

Sighing, I dropped my things at the table next to his.

"What the hell are you doing out here at this time of night? Are you trying to get yourself killed?" I asked tiredly, taking a sip of my coffee.

Kaiba arched an eyebrow.

"I could ask you the same thing."

I rolled my eyes.

"I can take care of myself. You, on the other hand…"

His eyes narrowed.

"I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself."

"That's not something a man who hires a bodyguard generally says," I pointed out, mildly amused; my momentary relapse into my bad mood seemed to have passed. .

"Oh, shut up."

Kaiba's expression suddenly became sharper, a rather suspicious glint in his eyes.

"Did you follow me here?" he questioned.

"Well, yes," I began, pausing to watch his reaction shift behind his mask. "You came here the other night on one of your walks."

I laughed at the irritated expression on his face.

"Relax. I'm not one of your love-struck fan-girls. I'd just rather you didn't get yourself abducted or something while I'm supposed to be watching you. It would be embarrassing."

"You've said that before…" he grumbled. "It's getting annoying."

I took a bite of my bagel, chewed carefully, and swallowed.

"Little things seem to annoy you. You know you can't control the whole world, right? Trying is only going to drive you crazy," I commented wisely.

"Gee, thanks for the advice," Kaiba responded, his voice dripping with sarcasm as he lifted his cup.

"Welcome," I quipped, fighting a smile.

It was quiet for a time, but the silence didn't stretch with tension the way it usually did. It was easy, almost companionable. The thought troubled me slightly, although I wasn't sure why.

"So," I said, weighing the word on my tongue before speaking.

He raised his eyebrows.

"You're being unusually civil. I'm wondering why," I stated, meeting his gaze steadily.

A shrug, then: "Were you?"

The smile broke free, the corners of my mouth quirking up at his sarcasm; I was quite the connoisseur myself.

"I was, yes. Still am, as a matter of fact."

"Well, you say you're smart. Figure it out yourself." He tossed the challenge at me dispassionately, making it clear he wasn't going to give me a straight answer.

"Okay then."

Standing, I picked up the napkin that had held my bagel and tossed it, downing the last of my coffee and lobbing it after the napkin into a bin.

"You plan on staying here much longer? If so, I'm ordering another drink," I queried, my tone bored.

"What are you talking about?" he snapped irritably.

"How many times do I have to say it? I'm not going to let you get yourself hurt on my watch. I'll escort you home," I said, rolling my eyes.

He stared at me coldly.

"I don't need you to escort me anywhere."

"Regardless, my position remains the same."

"What about your bike?" Kaiba posed, attempting to throw me off.

"What about it? I'll come back and get it later," I countered, crossing my arms.

A growl answered me.

"I'll follow you whether you like it or not," I warned. "You may as well let me do my job properly. A bodyguard no one can see is not very intimidating."

"You're supposed to be off-duty." Kaiba glared, crossing his own arms.

"A good bodyguard is never off-duty."

"Hnph."

"Whatever. I'm getting a drink. You want something?" I offered, turning to the counter and placing my own order.

"No."

"Don't even think about sneaking away. You'll regret it. I promise," I called over my shoulder, accepting the coffee that the woman exchanged for the bill in my hand.

A grunt sounded from across the room, the door swishing open behind me.

Exasperated, I sighed gruffly and hurried after him, tossing my change into the tip jar.

"You could be less difficult, you know," I complained blithely. "You almost made me spill my coffee.

"Is it too much to ask that you leave me alone?"

"Entirely too much," I answered.

Kaiba growled again, but didn't say anything else. And so we walked in silence for a long while.

The feel of being watched grew steadily stronger, and I turned to look over at him as we made it to his street.

"You know, traditionally, our roles would be reversed in this scenario," he observed quietly.

"True," I allowed, giving him an odd look, surprised that he would speak at all, let along to mention something like that. "I never was one for tradition."

"Hm. Nor am I…" He halted at the farthest gate, turning to face me. "I think I can make it from here."

With a mocking bow, I nodded.

"Agreed. See you tomorrow, then." I snapped a salute and then turned to take off again.

I was several yards away when I was called to halt once more.

"Wait."

"What, Kaiba? I would like to get home sometime tonight," I demanded exasperatedly.

"…Do you want a ride back to your bike?"

My body stiffened in surprise. Twisting my neck around, I looked back at him from over my shoulder, a half smile on my face.

"I appreciate the offer, Kaiba, but I'll be fine. Thanks anyway." I lifted a hand in a final farewell and started off at a brisk jog.

_What a strange day…_

A/N:

So… Hi. Yeah, it's been a while… Sorry? This took a long time, and I'm uncommonly pleased with the results of my efforts. I feel like everyone is in character for once. Let me know what you think, please. R&R, and thanks for reading.


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